


Falling Leaves, Catching Sunlight

by AlexKralie_Director



Category: An Akatsuki Life, Naruto, Naruto Shippuden
Genre: Akatsuki - Freeform, Angst, Depression, Happy, Multi, Naruto Shippuden - Freeform, Sad, Slice of Life, Yaoi, akatsuki life, find it on wattpad, friends - Freeform, naruto - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-11
Updated: 2020-04-27
Packaged: 2020-12-09 07:18:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 22,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20990975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlexKralie_Director/pseuds/AlexKralie_Director
Summary: Collection of drabbles all linked to each otherslow burneventual smutchanges every dayupdated oftenfind it on wattpad too





	1. Introductions

This is an ongoing fic that has chapters of sorts- in the sense that some have multiple parts and they are all connected to the others.  
For the most part, this explores the relationship dynamics between the characters and how they live with each other.  
Expect angst.


	2. Your Existence Bothers Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some Kisame and Itachi, Light Angst

****

**The day had drug on longer than Itachi would have liked, his body had been in severe pain and the pressure that had built up in his lungs, from trying not to cough in front of the other Akatsuki, was probably literally killing him. If not, it certainly felt like it. His pride was a curse, that and the fact that he if he was sick it posed a high risk of being kicked out or killed. He needed to stay and keep an eye on Madara and his plans, not to mention his own master plan that depended on him staying in the Akatsuki...**

**Itachi laid in bed, staring at the ceiling, attempting to calm his erratic breathing.Failing at this, he allowing himself to hit the ground as he drug himself from his bed, giving into his urge to cough the second he tasted rust in his mouth. The Uchiha clutched at nothing as he lie on the floor, hacking his lungs out and sending blood down his chin and onto the ground. God damn it all to Hell... and himself too.**

**That's where murderers like Itachi went, was it not? He continued to cough, not having the strength to pull his hair from his face, as he pondered his fate. Was staying alive as long as he could, really worth all the pain and mess? For Sasuke, anything was worth it... He sat up, struggling more than he had all week to do so, and leaned against the bed for support, breathing heavily.**

**He wished Kisame were upstairs, the shark being the only one he had told about this illness, his partner was usually the one who had helped him up when he fell. Alas, it seemed he would be battling this alone, as he had for years before meeting Kisame. He reached his good hand behind him and gripped the back of the bed, wincing in pain and trying to pull himself up.**

**After a few minutes of trying, and suffering, he gave up and glanced at the blood on the font of his shirt, sighing through his gasping. He would expect Kisame to be breathing like this, like a fish out of water, yet here he was: broken and barely breathing.**

  
**Kisame was continuing on his merry way, up to his and Itachi's room, he had just learned the funniest joke from Kakuzu that he figured his partner would enjoy to hear. What he didn't expect to find was Itachi dying on the floor again. Well, it happened more and more frequently these days, but he never did expect to walk in on it no matter how many times it happened.**

**The joke long forgotten, Kisame bent down and picked his partner up, setting him on the bed he was using as a form of support.** "...You alive?**" It was a stupid question, if he was dead it wasn't like he could answer him. The shark shook his head, taking Itachi by the chin and lifting his head up to examine the ninja.** "I'm no medic-nin, but if I had to give a diagnosis, I'd say you've got needs-to-relax-itis."

  
**Itachi let put a small puff of air, weakly pushing Kisame's hand away. He wasn't in the mood for jokes right now. Laying back against his flat, unsupportive pillow (Kakuzu really was a stingy old miser when it came to budget cuts) he let go of Kisame's shirt. Unbeknownst to him until now, he had been gripping it as tightly as he could. The svelte man, blew his hair out of his eyes and, for the first time, he wished it wasn't so damn long. The thin strands were leaving tracks of blood on his cheeks, causing a slight annoyance to the Uchiha.** "I'll relax, when I'm dead."

  
**Kisame opened his mouth to say something, but closed it firmly again. He truly wished Itachi wouldn't speak like that, but, then again, they all coped in their own way. He frowned at Itachi, the man's nonchalant, little smile on his face as if he were truly joking when he said it. The shark knew he wasn't, they had spoke about Itachi's many plans late into the night, on several occasions.** "Shut up, you idiot. You aren't dying just yet, I need someone to make sure Samehada eats, when I'm too lazy."** It was his own joke, letting Itachi know he cares about him without actually having to say it.**

  
**Itachi didn't have the energy to argue. He simply averted his empty gaze to the ceiling, picking at his chipping nail polish. "You mean..." He trailed off, taking a breath.** "You would starve yourself to death because you are lazy."** Itachi had a feeling that Kisame was one of those people who stare at an empty plate until someone filled it. Only Itachi had the patience to put up with him.**

  
"Yeah, yeah, you wish. I could feed myself all day long, I jus' choose not to."** He grumbled, sitting down beside his bloody, frail partner. Itachi had been looking skinnier and skinnier these days. In all honesty, it worried him. No matter how many times Itachi assured him that the Uchiha had no plans on dying just yet, Kisame wasn't so sure he liked just what his partner put himself through to be able to live this long.**

**Shoving the thought from his mind, he picked up the missing-nin and lightly set him over his shoulder. If Itachi wasn't going to take care of himself, Kisame would have to do it for him; starting with a shower and some food.** " 'Sides, you cook better than me, of course Im going to wait for you to cook for me instead of eating whatever shit I come up with."

**It was painful to be tossed over and hung from Kisame's large shoulder like that, but Itachi made no protest, simply swinging as they left the room. He knew it was merely a precaution, Kisame not wanting blood all over the front of his clothes unless it was from someone he willingly killed.** "Where are we going?"

  
"You're going to clean yourself up. I'm going to burn down the kitchen."** Kisame continued to carry his partner into the bathroom and plopped him down on the floor, Itachi could drag himself to the water because Kisame was no softie. Nope. ...He also didn't know how to cook. Dammit. It seemed teamwork would be needed as always. He sighed, kneeling down**. "So- there's water in here."

  
"There's always water in here, Kisame. This is where water belongs." **Itachi said, blinking without amusement. He frowned at having been set on the floor so rudely. "I'm fine, there is no need for you to assist me at all. I just wanted off the bedroom floor, yet here you are setting me on another."**  
**Kisame failed to realize what was so illogical about the situation. He moved Itachi out of the bedroom and into the bathroom, what the hell did he expect him to do? Put him on a throne and worship him? Damn, Itachi was so self-absorbed- pfft.** "Well, you're off the bedroom floor are you not?"  
**Itachi pulled a face and removed his hair from his eyes.** "Yes, but now I am sitting on another one. What was the point of moving me in the first place?"** He stood, shakily and frowned. Kisame, Kisame.. what was he going to do with the fool...** "Pein will kill us if you burn the kitchen down. Please dont."

  
**Kisame snorted, as if he would do that on purpose. It wasnt his fault he was better at eating than cooking. Hell, even Hidan was better at it than him and Hidan was as useless and that pink haired Kunoichi everyone in the Leaf Village disses.** "Well, if you hurried your ass up, I wouldnt have to."

  
**Itachi sighed, there truly was no winning with Kisame. Frowning, the Uchiha pulled his black t-shirt off and tossed it aside, leaving the ninja in just his thin, metal-mesh undershirt and his pants. He hated the fact that Kisame knew he was too weak to do anything for himself, yet acted as if this was still about food. He was saving Itachi's pride, but killing it at the same time. His onyx eyes stared holes at the tub, not too eager to be bathing so early in the afternoon.** "Sometimes, your existence bothers me, Kisame."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ||For those of you who have read the manga, paid attention to the anime backstories that people called fillers, you'll understand how much of a blow that last sentence would be to Kisame and I congratulate you.||


	3. That empty feeling, nagging, mocking me slowly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Haku and Zabuza feels

**Haku looked more like her every day. It was punishment enough to remember every last detail of his mother, the lines in her face, her smile, her eyes, her blood on the ground. Now, he was forced to look like her too.**

**The boy stared at his reflection in the water that met the shoreline of his and Zabuza's temporary home. He traced his finger along it, sending ripples across the surface. Haku was a weapon, a tool and nothing more. And he was okay with this, being just another object for Zabuza to use against his enemies, because he was grateful and it was better than being alone and on the street again- it had become not second, but first nature for him to remain seen and unheard.**

  
** He completed tasks without backtalk or expectations of praise. It was being allowed to be being allowed to be Zabuza's pawn that was reward enough. When there was someone... precious to you... you did whatever it took to protect them. Even if it meant living under harsh codes and strict orders...**

**Even if it meant knowing that you would never be anything more than a tool to him, nothing more than the knight to his king.The dark-haired boy placed a hand to his hip, wincing in slight pain as he pulled it off and stared at the blood with mild disapproval. Shinobi didn't bleed. He brought his eyes down to his hip as red slowly stained the pink silk of his sleeveless kimono. **

  
**Haku had failed to anticipate an attack on Zabuza, until the only thing left to block it was himself. If only he hadn't been so busy with the other low-life thugs, if only he had been faster. He shouldn't have failed to calculate the move. He failed and failure was worse than death. The wound had made a habit of not wanting to close, oozing blood whenever it wanted to. There was nothing he could do but clean it and wait. He hadn't had the time to stitch it, with Zabuza being home.**

**He wouldn't let him know what a failure he had been. How close he had allowed his beloved near an enemy attack... He opened the bag at his hip, pulling out a wad of bandages and a home-made, herbal disinfectant. The long-haired boy peeled off his soiled bandages and used them to wipe all the excess blood off before cleaning and rebinding it. Zabuza would scold him for sure, if not beat the shit out of him for failing to pay attention. If Zabuza's dreams were unable to be achieved because of his foolishness, because he was a broken tool that was unable to be used... Haku would have no purpose in life, no will to live. Not even death itself would be able to heal his broken heart.**

  
**Haku pulled his kimono back on and washed his hands in the water that he used to play in as a child. It was time to go back inside now. The Yuki boy turned away and walked back towards the house. It was a pretty place, surrounded by forest and meadow on one side and the shore-line on another. Pretty and secluded, a place no one else knew about. Arriving at the door, he slipped out of his geta sandals and slid the door open, stepping inside. The coolness of the tatami mats were heaven on his weary feet.**

"Zabuza~san?"** Haku walked past the two beds, that hadn't been put up yet, and slid the door to the kitchen open. The boy poked around and found nothing but a pot of water and a small note, telling him to sit here and not fuck anything up. There was no list of what he was to do in the meantime, but Haku had lived with Zabuza for many years. He knew what was expected of him. The note had been the most detailed piece of writing he had ever gotten from the man, it was also only the second piece of writing. Being raised to understand what his place was, and his duties, Haku hardly ever needed to be told what to do. There was no need for note. Or good-byes.**

  
**Haku checked the time on a clock on the kitchen counter. He decided to skip cooking any meals. Too soon and it would spoil before Zabuza returned. Too late and it would be wasted all the same, earning him a punishment whose severity would depend on Zabuza's mood after his trip. **  
**The boy took a tie from his wrist and put his long, black hair up in a bun; he had decided to work on laundry, a task made difficult when your hair went past your shoulders. Collecting all of his and Zabuza's clothes, the boy took them to a large tub of water outside, near a rabbit hutch. He took his foot and lifted the latch, allowing his snowy, white does to roam as he worked. Days without Zabuza felt like long, silent years.**

  
**Once the laundry was hung to dry, Haku put the beds away and went to check his inventory of salves and tinctures. It had been awhile since he had restocked, but he was sure he had what he needed. In a small corner of the main room, by a window there was a tall shelving unit full of brown and blue bottles. The window itself was full of drying herbs and plants, hanging from a wire. He went to the shelf and set aside a large, clear vase of acupuncture needles, pulling the ones for human skin out along with a roll of bandages. Then, as always, he thought of Zabuza and his frequent headaches after dealing with Gato. The boy pulled out a jar marked ''feverfew extract'' and set it aside for later.**

**Walking to a chair, he stepped out of his kimono and hung it on the back, threading the needle in his hand. He grabbed the roll of bandage and set it next to him, knowing better than to wince at the tug of the needle's entry and exit. Keeping his face empty of all emotion, Haku set his jaw tight, as he finished sewing himself shut. The wound had only been deep, and not serious, it would heal with time.**

  
**The boy ran his fingers over the injury, studying it. This would be one of the few that would scar his upper legs. Being as fast and powerful as he was, it wasn't often that Haku would be wounded badly enough to scar. His arms and below his knees were relatively scar free. Only his chest and back were considered scarred enough to be called ''littered''.**

**Zabuza had been a harsh and unforgiving teacher, not showing any mercy to even a young Haku. The man had been sure to establish the difference between tool and master early on. There was no holding back, not even on a child. Truthfully, Zabuza had only went harder on him, fighting Haku until he lost all consciousness and punishing him for it afterwards. The shinobi way was hard; this he had learned.**

  
**The boy's back was a mass of scars, contrasting with his smooth clean arms and lower legs. It was one mass of criss-crossing hashes, making their way up and down until they met in the middle with one large, raised scar. The mark went all the way across his upper back, mimicking the straight line of his shoulders. He remembered the mark well. It was given to him the day he learned that being a shinobi was a synonym for ''no mercy''. A young Haku had fallen on his face, unable to move after the spar with Zabuza. Much to his horror and dismay, the man had not walked over to help him up. He knelt down and growled lowly, in that menacing voice of his, raising a kunai.**

  
"_Remember this,_"** He had said,** "_A shinobi shows no mercy."_ **The kunai had slashed deep, across his back; too fast to see but too painful to forget. That day forever branded the shame of being a failure into Haku's brain. He swore never to let Zabuza down again, like he did that day. Pulling his Kimono back on, Haku drug his head out of the past and reminded himself that he was needed. He was useful. Zabuza needed him. He had a purpose. Besides, it was nearing the time Zabuza came home after missions. He would be hungry.**


	4. Strawberry kisses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> kisaita fluff

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will not be formatting this the same as earlier chapters. It takes a long time and I wont be as inclined to update as much if I do. So, here it is- newly boring and unoriginal. ENjoy~!!

  
Itachi had changed from his wet clothes into a black tshirt of Kisame's that went down to his knees and some comfortable pants, laying on his bed to read a book he borrowed from Deidara's nightstand. He hoped the blonde wouldn't mind, but he had ran out of his own reading materials.

Besides, A Thousand Splendid Suns had been the best thing he had ever read so far. The collection of Poe stories he found was alright, but this book had fully enraptured him. Who knew Deidara could have such great taste? It was no wonder Sasori kept his company all to himself.

  
Kisame, being the loud and boisterous asshole he was (when he wasn't down and depressed) had barged into the room, grabbing Samehada and swinging him around. "That Hidan will be the death of me I f-" 

The shark paused, looking down at Itachi. He knew that was his shirt but the idea that Itachi even walked over to the other side of the room, climbed a chair, and grabbed it was ridiculous. He sat down on his own bed. "Whatcha doin'?"

  
"Reading." Itachi looked up from the book and stared at him with a blank gaze. He wondered if Kisame knew how to read, he had never seen the man even look at a book before now. Perhaps, he had never learned how. No, that wasn't right. He had been a very important shinobi in the past. Reading would have been a must.

The Uchiha set the book aside and sat on Kisame's bed, already prepared for the 'you'll strain your eyes' lecture he had been getting frequently. Sure, it was true, but still annoying nonetheless. He blew a strand of hair from his eyes, idly. "Did you get bored without me, Kisame?"

"You're such a dumbass." Kisame sighed, fully aware that Itachi was probably a super genius or something. The shark kicked his sandals off and grabbed a comb off the dresser between the beds. An odd place for such a piece of furiture but no one said Kisame was an interior decorator. He pulled Itachi onto his lap and made a face, combing through the long hair with a rough but gentle hand.

  
Itachi sighed as Kisame did more pulling than brushing. He had taken years to grow his hair out so long, and here his partner was pulling it all out. The raven haired man, slipped out of Kisame's grasp and swapped his position so that he was facing the shark. "Sometimes, but you haven't complained before. Disapproval isn't your color, Kisame."

  
Kisame raised a thick brow at Itachi's sudden swap of direction. "Oh, no you don't. You nearly fell asleep in the pool and ruined my fight with that bitch Hidan- you're sleeping." If Kisame missed out on the chance to win the prize of beating the shit out of Deidara, Itachi would be getting no Shark Kisses. At all.

  
"I'm not above begging you, Kisame." He reminded the shark, willing to use the cute face of his when he needed to, This was definitely one of those times. He turned his best sad, wide-eyed puppy eyes on the shark, staring into his soul. Only with Kisame did he allow himself to be seen as more than a brick wall when it came to emotions. "Please?"

  
"Damn you. Damn you to hell, Itachi." He sighed, frowning and pretending to be disappointed in the Uchiha. It was though, quite frankly, hard to keep on a face of mock disapproval when Itachi was looking so damn adorable. He almost felt sorry for eating all of his partner's secret candies. Almost. The shark leaned down and planted a small, soft kiss on Itachi's head. "That's all youre getting. Now, sleep."

  
Kisame had forced him to do this. Itachi sighed and crawled out of the man's lap, turning a competitive look on him. "What if I don't want to?" He was bored of sleeping, and tired of being- well- tired. If he had to fight the shark to allow him to stay up and quit being such a mother- he would.

  
"Then I'll make you." Itachi had forced him to do this. The shark got up and opened the dresser, pulling out a small box of Apollo Strawberry Chocolate Candy. The latest weakness of Itachi's. He waved it around, menacingly. "You wouldn't want to find this in my stomach, would you?"

  
Unless... that happened. Curse the shark! Itachi let out a small gasp of surprise and betrayal. "You wouldnt--"

  
"Try me-" Kisame opened the box and ate one slowly, putting on the most exaggerated face of delight. "This is the best thing I ever tasted, Itachi, You sure to pick the good ones~" Itachi glared a dark, menacing glare that stole the light from the sun and every other source of heat from the room. "You should have gone to sleep, its not my fault you didnt listen." The shark countered.

  
"You stole an innocent's life, for your own selfish gain. I refuse to speak to you." Itachi put his candies away and laid in his bed, facing the wall.

  
"Itachi, you can't seri-..ous." Okay, so he was serious. Kisame crossed his arms and sat in his own bed. "Fine, pick your candies over me, if you actually fed me, I wouldnt steal them."

  
"I feed you three meals a day, along with whatever you steal from Pein's food stores." Itachi said, rolling his eyes. Kisame was a drama queen for sure. He fed him more than three meals a day.

  
"Yeah, but then you forget and I sit and starve all damn damn Itachi." He spread out on his bed, flinging his arm over his eyes dramatically. "I'm going to die."

  
Itachi glanced over at the shark and sighed, grabbing his pink chocolates and sitting on his partner's stomach. "Here." The Uchiha popped the candy in his mouth, seeing as how he wouldnt shut up when he was hungry. "Don't say I never gave you anything."

  
Kisame grinned, eating the candy and sitting up more. "Nope, never again. But, I'm still starving."

Itachi glared again. "You just ate an hour ago, I will not be cooking."Sometimes, being paired with someone who could eat an entire village was a pain and a bother. But, Itachi didn't have to think about it. He wouldnt trade Kisame for the world.

"Fine. Go read that lame book of yours, Boring Itachi." He rolled his eyes, setting the man off of him again. It seemed he would have to go back to the old nickname he used. "Youre killing me."

"Don't worry, I'll be sure to find a big enough toilet to flush you down." Itachi said, going back to his own bed and eating the innocent candies.

  
"Make sure, someone sings the Jaws theme. And Wiggle Wiggle." He said, looking at the book Itachi had borrowed. "How do you read this shit anyways? It has so many pages." Kisame fumbled around with the book before toss it it aside, petting his partner's head. Yeah... despite his faults and holier than thou attitude... Itachi never ceased to make him feel wanted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The old format was only around to make it easier to read on wattpad ngl.


	5. Kitchen wars

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I DID NOT WRITE KYUSUKE SOMEONE ELSE DID DONT EAT ME IK ITS SHIT

Kakuzu would be damned if he had to sit in was nearly finished, the idiot would fuck everything up and he'd have to start over. his room with Hidan and count his cash. Every single time he got in the zone, Hidan would open his fat mouth and the man would have to begin again. So, after many lost hours, he finally got smart and punched his partner in the cut before seeking solitary elsewhere. The kitchen seemed empty enough and the large table looked as if it would hold a few hundred pounds of cash. Perfect.

  
"992, 993, 994-" Kakuzu stacked his bills in neat rows on the table as he counted, separating them all my amount into their own separate stacks, keeping count on a piece of paper beside him. He bent over his in seat, reaching down to grab another stack of piles and sighed in annoyance as a stitch or two popped off on his left bicep, allowing a tendril of back or two to escape from the opening and flap around like an idiot. He'd need to fix it later.

  
Itachi had been staring into the fridge for a little while, contemplating on what the advantages to cooking breakfast would be. It was already so late in the afternoon, he would be better off making lunch. But, if he did that, he would be expected to make some for everybody, let's face it, who had the time to cook for ten people? It would be better to just skip the meals altogether. Besides, he wasn't feeling too tip-top today anyways.

  
The long haired man knew Kakuzu had entered the room long before he had taken any interest in sitting near him. It seemed that the miser had either not noticed him or hadn't labeled Itachi's presence as a big enough disturbance to warrant leaving the room. The pale, slender Uchiha walked over the the table and took an empty seat, finger tracing the outline of a bill idly. "Spring cleaning day, is it?"

  
Kakuzu grunted in response and continued to sort his bills, looking up to find someone touching his money. He narrowed his eyes and slid the stack away from Itachi. It was pretty ballsy, distracting him and touching his money, but he'd expect nothing less from the King Bitch himself. "Would go a lot faster, if you all quit interrupting me."

  
Itachi said nothing in response to the barb, simply put an elbow on the table and his hand under his chin. He took a calm breath, and closed his eyes restfully, "I take it Hidan is annoying you again."

  
Kakuzu frowned, scratching at the stitches near his mouth with the tip of his finger and glaring at Itachi with his Watermelon eyes. He was in no mood to discuss the annoying shenanigans of his partner...unless it was because someone had found a way to kill the dumb ass. Hidan waking up with an ax in his head was disappointing because the man woke up after having his head cracked open, but also irritating... because he woke up after having his head cracked open. After several failed murder attempts, the miser had given up on trying anything until he was certain it would work. "Do you need something from me or are you hear to annoy the shit out of me until Ieave? 99...God dammit!"

  
Itachi opened his dark eyes, lazily and stared at the greedy man before him. It was pitiful, truly, that Kakuzu could think of nothing but material items and money. He would never know the joys or pains of bonds and relationships, if he continued to live this way. "Perhaps, a break would do you nicely, old man."

  
Had it been anyone outside of the Akatsuki, the tease would have gone unnoticed. Itachi had a way of making everything sound flat and emotionless, but the years of living and working together had made it just barely noticeable, but noticeable nonetheless. "Being old is better than being a thin piece of shit, or working with walking sushi."

  
Kakuzu looked back at his book, thankful he had kept track of where he left off this time, only to frown deeply. The were ninety-five dollars short in the Akatsuki 'Evil Plan' budget their Leader had him form. "Fucking hell..."

  
Itachi let his arm down from under his chin and took a look at the note-pad. He had no idea how Kakuzu could read his own handwriting but it was neater than Deidara's, Hidan's, and Tobi's. "You aren't short, the last two digits are smeared." The man reached over and took the pad, quickly calculating the actual total and writing it down.

Kakuzu leaned over and observed, making sure to have only an annoyed expression on his face as he did so. He would never thank Itachi for helping him. Not in a million years. The tan-skinned man, blew a long strand of brown hair out of his eye in irritation, more directed as himself than his helper, and took the paper back, scanning it over. "Anyone could have noticed that, don't expect any gratitude."

  
"I would expect a pig to speak before I expect gratitude from you- or accepted it." Itachi brushed a long strand of thin, black hair behind his ear. Having slept in, he hadn't any time to pull it back before entering the kitchen, not to mention his hair ties going missing. He would interrogate Tobi later.

  
Being the sadistic, greedy, self-centered miser he was, Kakuzu had no perception of beauty. If he had, he probably would have been left tongue-tied at the ethereal beauty and perfection of Itachi. But, as he didn't, all that had caught his attention was the cool, monotonous insult. The stitched man, sans mask, let his own choppy brown hair fall in his face as he slammed his hands on the table, leaning over it and growling lowly. The two loose tendrils waved around in anger, "Where's the beef, Uchiha?"

  
Itachi stared into the green irises before him, showing no emotion. He answered coolly, "In the fridge where it belongs." A small smirk, just barely noticeable, tugged at the edge of his mouth. The people in this organization were so tightly-wound, it was amusing how a single comment could set them off, causing a stir.

  
Suigetsu walks in the kitchen looking as if he had just been disappointed by someone.

  
Kakuzu spotted Kyusuke and lowered himself back into his seat, sending a deadly glare at Itachi. He would deal with the Uchiha Bitch, as Deidara so fondly called him later,(when a founding member wasn't watching him).He looked over at Kyusuke. "Can I help you, or you planning on growing roots there?"

Kyusuke looked at kakuzu with a Blank Stare and realize what he was doing he was daydreaming "Oh sorry i was thinking about something," Kyusuke goes and sits down.

  
"Good afternoon, Kyusuke." Itachi says, placing his hand under his chin again an staring at Kakuzu blankly. He sends his dark eyes over to Kyusuke and gave a small, polite smile. "Are you searching for something?"

  
"Better not be my money..." Kakuzu growled, hoarding his stacks of bills under his arms and leaning over them, forming a protective shelter.

  
''Morning, Itachi." Kyusuki said with a of happiness i wave my hand at Itachi while squinting at Kakuzu.

  
Kakuzu sends a wicked glare at the entitled punk, "You got something to say or do I need to beat it out of you?" The two tendrils that had escaped from his bicep after the stitches popped that afternoon, began to wave around madly, attempted to further push themselves out towards the new person in the room. He wasn't sure what Kyusuke wanted from him, but the stare was annoying and he had gotten enough from Itachi already.

  
"I was looking for something to eat I'm a little hungry" Kyusuke sounded a bit scared he looked the other way towards the wall beside him Kyusuke sweats a little.

  
Kakuzu sighs and stands up, walking over to a cabinet and throwing it open. He grabs a pack of snacks and hands it to Kyusuke with a small punch in the arm, "Don't say I never gave you anything."

  
"Uhh... Thank you," He said with a quick little smile then he opened the bag of snacks he him was given. "Soo what are we doing today ?" He asked with his mouth full of food.

  
"We were waiting for Leader~sama to give us some instructions, but it seems as if he sent everyone out excepting me and Kakuzu." Itachi supplied, helpfully. He helped Kakuzu to place his money in a bag and put a hand to his temple, he had a raging migraine and could see why Pein had ordered him to stay behind, yet the sting of shame was more painful than the headache itself.

  
Kyusuke looked down at the floor a minute and started heading for the door "Ill be back i have to take care of something that I would like to get done now." He went outside and and start jumping away.

  
Itachi stared quietly as the little intruder made his way out of the kitchen. He was strange, that one.. Once the male had left, he turned his gaze back to Kakuzu. "Its quiet...too quiet. Perhaps, you should check on Hidan?" In all reality, the raven just wanted to be left alone and handn't the energy in his body to leave the kitchen. Kakuzu may be a cocky idiot at times, but hopefully he got the message.

  
Kakuzu would never admit to Itachi being right but.. Itachi was being right. The hideout was far too quiet, for Hidan to being doing something. Perhaps... he was finally dead!? God, a man could hope. Kakuzu stood and grabbed the large bag of money, "That stupid bastard better be dead in a pool of his own blood or I swear..." Muttering threats under his breath, he exited the room swiftly.


	6. The Groundable

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kakuzu and Hidan get grounded as a filler

  
Kakuzu, having been given yet another boneheaded idea from Kisame, had been waiting hours for Hidan to make some tell-tale noise from behind their bedroom door. The stitched man, narrowing his watermelon eyes and gripped a knife tightly in his hand. The second that dumb-ass opened the door, he'd stab him right in the chest. He couldn't die anyways, and besides, Pein wasn't here to hit him with that 'no conflict within the Akatsuki' rule. Kakuzu had never wanted to join anyways.

"When ya think he's gonna open it?" Kisame said, the shark-man was laying on the floor, trying to peer under the door. The idea of catching Hidan by surprise was...both highly likely and not at all. It was always one or the other with him. Impossible, like Hidan actually being quiet for once, but Kisame wasn't one to give up.

  
"On three, we throw the door open and ambush him, yeah?" He said, turning his head and looking up at Kakuzu. Really, he should have been checking in with Itachi, but face it- the man was boring. So boring. Kakuzu may be a greedy, grouchy old man, but at least he knew how to liven up a bit.

'You neglect your partner, Kisame-'

Kisame scoffed to himself. Leader~sama could suck a dick. If he wanted the shark to do things with Itachi he better pay him or get the guy drunk and alive for once.

  
Kakuzu lowered his eyes and stared at Kisame, nodding. He waited for the shark to stand up, cracking his knuckles and putting his hand on the door handle. "One-.."

Two-... Three-...!

The stitched man threw the door open and barged in like an NYPD detective would, rolling into the room and shoved the knife out in front of him, expecting to find him in some ridiculous and stupid act. Or dead, he hoped the man had finally found a way to die.

  
Kakuzu would have to be majorly disappointed if he thought he could get rid of Hidan so easily. The albino had merely decided complete a few rituals in the bathroom of the large bedroom, and didn't know where to put his kidney back in. After a couple hours of sitting in the bathtub and cursing his organ out, he had chosen to sit there and figure this out. Almighty Jashin would never want someone so stupid as his favored one.

Hearing the loud noise and mumbling of what sounded like Scrooge and Nemo, Hidan sat up in the tub. "Oi, Kaki, that you? The fuck are doing out there, huh?"Kisame stood up, accidentally whacking himself in the head with Samehada as he tried to swing it over his shoulder. "Guess he's still alive, man."

  
Kakuzu's eye twitched and he clenched his fist, kicking down the bathroom door, "What did I say about calling me that!"

He could hate and attempt to-keyword: 'attempt' to- kill Hidan all he wanted, but when it came down to the bare bones and 'infiltrate the dealer find the supplier' part of the situation: It was Pein he should be killing. Their leader was the one who forced him to partner with a loud-mouthed, bull-headed, idiot. Of course, that was only because Kakuzu would kill all his partners in a fit of rage and Pein had done the smart things and found someone he couldn't kill, but he would never blame himself for the 'Hidan Problem'.

  
Hidan glared and flung his bloody kidney at his partner, spitting at him, "Fuck you! I'll call you whatever I want!"

Hidan had never meant to remove his kidney, that was just a freak accident, but if it came down to giving Kakuzu another reason to call him stupid or pretending he really did mean to remove a primary organ? You could be damned sure; he was going to choose the latter of the options. The man would probably make up some complex 'totally not made-up' Jashinism ritual for as to why he did it.

Kakuzu growled and, in one quick and fluid motion, snatched the kidney off the floor and chucked it at Hidan's own face. He took his hand and wiped the flood off his face, flinging it aside in anger. "You ungrateful fuck, if I could kill you-" A brightly colored mask flew off his back, taking a black, glowing beast with it, rising high above Kakuzu and looming over them menacingly.

  
"...Guys-" Kisame backed away slowly, noticing who was in the room now, glaring with his psychopath face, rinnegan eyes narrowed. Normally the shark would have been 'oh yeah! Alright! A fight! Lemme get in this too!' But, with Leader-sama in the room? Fuck no. Nuh-uh, nada, bye bye for Kisame. He put Samehada back over his shoulder and bolted from the room as fast as he could. He would check on Itachi before Leader's anger was turned on him afterwards for being with Kakuzu and not Boring Uchiha.

  
The pierced, ginger man stood before the two, bickering, idiots. He crossed his arms, a vein throbbing at his temple from holding back his rage. This was ridiculous, how could he have hired all the world's biggest idiots? Sasori and Deidara couldn't go two minutes without leveling an entire village or grocery store over something stupid and trivial, Kakuzu and Hidan could fight over water being wet.

Tobi was... He had no idea what to call Tobi other than a total and complete moron. On top of that, he had to listen to Zetsu call himself names, stop Kisame from ripping off pieces of Konan to use as toilet paper, and somehow see to it that Itachi isn't neglected in it all. The Uchiha was an important asset to this team.

How was he supposed to send him out if his own partner wouldn't do anything with him? This was a joke. It had to be. Madara would jump out any minute now and yell 'Surprise! I lied! Your real recruits are right here!' He took a sharp inhalation of air, nostrils flaring, and let it out with a shaky growl. "Just what is it you think you are doing?" The man had kept them from going on missions because they couldn't seem to handle it. Now they needed to be kept away from bathrooms?

  
Hidan grabs his kidney, "Kakuzu started it."

  
Pein uses his almighty push to throw Hidan out of the bathtub and press him against the wall. He turns to use the same move on Kakuzu with his other hand, sending him flying into the door of the bedroom. "There will be no conflict inside the Akatsuki. You are banned from all missions and outings until you learn to get along."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you got the title reference I love you


	7. Wind Blows, Fire Burns, Rain Falls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sasori and Deidara and Itachi

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> || Ah, yes, and here we introduce my stabby boy. The context missing in some of this, when it comes to the 'plan'. Sasori decided the only way to truly 'beat' Deidara at their squabbling game was to trick him into thinking the puppet truly cared for him and then rip his heart out emotionally. SO, thats what has been going on up until now.||
> 
> SOME OF THE FORMATTING IS OFF HERE I AM SO SORRY

  
Deidara made his way into the living room, practically dragging his feet there before plopping down on the couch, right in the spot where Itachi normally sat. The place was usually very warm since Itachi seldom left his spot when invested in what he was doing. Warm, curved into the couch, a perfect spot to crash, which was exactly what Deidara did.

  
Itachi was just about to return Diedara's books, realizing he had had them for over a week now, when the owner himself walked in. He sat up on the couch and set them down, wishing he had let Kisame finish his hair. With his sunken eyes, long messy hair, and baggy shirt, he felt he looked like the girl from the Ring than himself at the moment.

"You look exhausted." The Uchiha commented, face and voice devoid of all emotion. Now, that it was no longer just him and Kisame, he had a reputation to uphold and a mask to keep on. Deidara, it seemed, was too tired to keep up his loud, bubbly personality. "I borrowed these, I hope you don't mind."

Knowing that Deidara most likely wouldn't be too keen to talk to him, since the blonde hated him, he decided to keep a conversation going. "I enjoyed A Thousand Splendid Suns, but the Poe collection was my favorite. 'The Raven' is always... evocative." The Raven would always be a favorite of Itachi's. That and the Oblong Box. "I didn't know you enjoyed his work, also."

Lifting up his lazy and tired eyelids to glance up at the Uchiha, indeed too tired to deal with anyone right now. He just wanted a nap. A quick 15 minute nap to get this groggy tiredness out of his system was all he needed, but it seemed he wasn't going to get that any time soon. When he saw his books in the Uchiha's hand, his eyes froze on them for a moment before he crossed his brows, a frown on his face as the blond sat up.

Edgar Allen Poe works was a secret guilty pleasure of his, one that now Itachi knew about. He stayed quiet for a moment, contemplating his words for a response to the Uchiha whom he still didn't like at all. "... The Pit and the Pendulum is my-.. my favorite of his works. Kept those books since before going rogue... Where'd you find those, yeah? I hid those books away. Not even Danna knows where they are."

  
"Well, I'm not surprised that the self-centered puppet didn't know where you hide your things. He doesnt focus on anything unless it benefits himself." Itachi rubbed his tired eyes and set the books aside. It wasn't hard work to find them, he had walked into the wrong room looking for something and was too lazy to turn the lights on.

  
Only when he gave up and flicked them on, did he notice the mess he made and whose room it was. "The pit and the pendulum terrifies me, honestly. I made sure not to fold any pages and I kept them up so Zetsu wouldnt eat them. I should have asked first; would you like them back?"

  
He would, yes. Those books were something he took an interest in, especially from the dark nature of their stories. Dark romance was never something he thought he would enjoy, until he picked up his first book. But with that aside... "Danna shoves his puppets anywhere and everywhere he can find in the room, yeah. The one place I can put em without him seeing them is probably already taken by another puppet head... Keep them by you, un. It'll be safe from his wooden dummies."

  
Itachi blinked slowly, this was not how he had expected this encounter to go. A bomb or two directed at his face was what he had been preparing for. The lack of wanting to fight was what had him keeping the books so long in the first place; he had been prolonging the meet as long as he could. Sighing and brushing hair out of his face, Itachi put the books back on his lap. "Kisame believes books to be something you wipe your ass with."

  
Deidara glanced away from Itachi, refusing eye contact with the Uchiha just because of their history, one hand reaching up to rake his fingers through his long blond bangs. He didn't want his books becoming a thing of uselessness. "Un, I'll just take em back. Find somewhere Danna won't check or take over with his puppets again."

"You can keep them with Konan, perhaps. She is good at keeping things safe." Itachi noticed the blonde's averted gaze. It seemed not all was under the bridge with them. A shame, truly, since Itachi never hated Deidara (or anyone other than Madara and a few others from his past). The Uchiha grabbed a tie from his wrist and lazily threw his messy hair into a ponytail.

"Or I can assist you in clearing out space in your room. No one should have to stare at those... puppets all the time. Besides, its time he learned to share." For whatever reason it was that made Sasori act like a spoiled bitch, Itachi had no patience at all. From where he stood, Sasori acted like an only child who was angry at not having gotten his way but took it out on the world instead of his behavior.

That... sounded like the worst idea Deidara had ever heard because it meant he was going to get yelled at quite severely, but... it wasn't really a bad idea. In fact he was all for it, especially since Sasori was currently busy with other things right now. If they were quick, he and Itachi might be able to get everything done before Sasori came back into the room. "Un... that doesn't sound too bad of an idea... How quickly can you work, hm?"   
Baby blue eyes finally met the darker ones of the other male, at least, one of his did. The right eye was focused on Itachi while the left one was hidden by his bangs, the hints of a very small smile starting to appear on his face.

Itachi caught his eye, quickly taking in the small beginnings of a smile. From what he had heard from Deidara at the start seemed to have been the sharing of a secret. No one else knew about the books and he didnt seem to want to kill him. Perhaps, and he could always kill him if it wasnt so, Deidara was one who could be trusted as well. The Uchiha let a small smirk appear on his normally blank face. "I cook for the entire organization. How fast do you think I can work?"

"Let's try it then, yeah? See if it's just you doing all the work or if you've got help, hm." Deidara stood up off the couch, shrugging his fishnet shirt back up properly on his shoulders, since he felt it becoming ruffled and uneven on his body, before he walked off out the living room area towards his and Sasori's shared room. He didn't need to slow down for the Uchiha. The man was perfectly capable of finding the room on his own.

  
Itachi was feeling a new rush of energy now, at the thought of the challenge. He zoomed past Deidara, walking quickly to the room. Truthfully, it was Deidara's doubt that was fueling him, always one to rise above doubt and circumstance even as a child. Always ready to prove himself. Besides, with his illness showing much more physical manifestations, he was using every moment he could spare to prove himself well and able. Opening the door to the arsonist and puppeteer's room, Itachi blinked.

Surely, it didn't look so terrible all the time. Hopefully. Maybe. Doubtful. Sighing, he walked over to the nearest shelf and grabbed an empty carton from the floor. The parts would fit in here just fine. He looked at Deidara for a moment, showing him the bet had been taken. Being an Uchiha, speed and agility were as natural as dark eyes and fair skin. But, when you channeled your chakra to your feet or hands, for example, the speed can be applied to that particular body part. Sharingan only magnified it. 

  
Closing his eyes and focusing his chakra down to his arms and hands, Itachi awakened his ocular powers and shot his eyes open. The Uchiha began to quickly throw all the parts into the carton, hands a blur, while he organized the rest of things. Using his already strained eyes would earn him quite the pain later, not to mention whatever downside decided to happen as well, but if it meant building one more bridge in this damned organization- so be it. Besides, he never wanted to cause any hard feelings between him and the blonde. It was a shame they had worked out that way. "This is fast enough, I assume."

  
Deidara barely saw Itachi's hands moving when he went back and forth between picking up objects and placing them inside the carton he'd picked up, all belonging to Sasori of course. The only things that belonged to Deidara were either on his bed, under the bed, or were inside buckets. Meaning the clay.

"Un, it's fast enough to get the job done..." He said after blinking a few times. How was he so goddamn fast? Was this what Kisame went through every time Itachi decided he was going to clean up the room? Or whenever he decided to clean then cook in the kitchen?

  
Kisame was a poor little Nemo-sama when it came to having the room clean. If Itachi found so much as a single sock on the floor, the entire room was torn apart and re-cleaned form top to bottom. The shark may or may not be kicked out and forced to sleep outside. Itachi set the box down on Sasori's bed and allowed his chakra to flow normally. His head spun and his eyes blurred as he deactivated his Sharingan, but it was worth it honestly. Cleaning had been somewhat enjoyable.  
"I suppose so. You have a shelf now to place your things on, if Sasori attempts to reclaim it: simply T-pose and threaten to cut his dick off." He gave a happy smile, one that seemed all too disturbing for the context but emotion was emotion.

Sasori stood in the doorway, silent and glaring at the occupants of the room. He gripped the puppet part tight and stared at the box on his bed. And the empty shelf. The shelf he had built. For himself. Not anyone else. His anger could not be put into articulate wording, so he simply stood in the doorway like an angry munchkin.

  
Deidara hadn't glanced back to the entrance of the room yet, but maybe he should have. He looked way too casual at this moment in time, not wearing his Akatsuki cloak and just standing there with navy ninja sweats, a fishnet shirt, a simple vest, his hands in his pockets and his hair tied in it's high ponytail. 

  
Sure he looked pretty casual and relaxed around the Uchiha right now, but it was because the raven had been treating Deidara like an equal member. And of course, he'd helped Deidara find a good place to set his books at, the same books they both had a shared interest in. Currently they were just sitting on his bed though. But he did raise a brow at Itachi's choice of words. "Un, not that I have a death wish or anything. Danna might spear my head with a new puppet if he finds out, hm."

"I would suggest investing in a more protective choice of headgear." Itachi said, smile replaced with his usual mask of indifference as he noticed the stupid puppeteer entering the room. He had always had an issue with the red-head's arrogance and god complex. Even now, he was demanding to be noticed. Unsure of whether or not to leave Deidara to fend for himself, Itachi busied himself with the placing of the books. "Hello, Sasori."

  
Sasori's fingers twitched around the arm he was holding. He had come upstairs to get another pot of teal paint while Deidara was supposed to be napping somewhere. Not only had the blonde lied, but now he was- was- taking up with Uchiha's? No, this had to be some weird genjutsu he walked in on. But, then again, when had he ever allowed himself to be jutsu-ed like that? Never.The red-head stepped into the room and glared at the both of them some more, voice laced with venom as his mind-game plot was forgotten. "Since when are you friends?"

A slight chill ran down Deidara's spine at the icy venomous tone he heard from Sasori as soon as he'd spoken. It was directed at him, which only made the situation worse for Deidara. What was Sasori's problem all of a sudden? First he wanted to kick Deidara out, then suddenly he was nice, in a weird way, and now he was acting... rude again. Like he was before. Just snapped like a piece of wood, ironically. "Danna...? We were just talking, yeah." Deidara responded back, his eyes slightly narrowed at the red head for the sudden out burst.

  
"We were talking about your lack of respect for other people." Itachi said calmly, stacking books up neatly. He wasnt one for fighting when it could be avoided, but Deidara... well, guy didnt have much going for him. If Itachi could fix that he would. "You should be more polite to your partner."

  
Original plan or take out Itachi? That was the only thing on his mind. He could care less about the shelf, honestly. It wasn't as if it was being used, he simply threw junk scraps on it. But, with the Uchiha and his stupid all knowingness in here, Deidara would be told Sasori was merely playing him in a heartbeat. He would need to get rid of him. 

  
"You should learn to keep your stupid nose where it belongs: not in my business. How I treat the brat is none of your concern." He said icily, narrowing his eyes at the Uchiha and moving the box onto another shelf. "That, if you cant tell, is your cue to leave."

  
He could tell very much. Sasori was too annoying to handle, especially after he blew all his energy on cleaning. Blinking slowly and attempting not to stagger out of the room, Itachi gave Deidara a small, backwards salute with his fingers as he left. As much as he cared, Deidara would be on his own now. "You truly are a stick in the mud, Sasori."

  
Ouch, did Itachi just call Sasori a stick in the mud? That was going to be one explosive argument that Deidara actually didn't want to take part in. But Sasori's words stung the blond slightly, just barely anything to be taken against, but enough to be felt. Deidara had at least enough desire to want his own space in the room so he could lay on the bed, be lazy, play with his clay birds. But with Sasori's stuff everywhere, as in his puppets that were being repaired taking up space by sitting in places it shouldn't be in, there had barely been any room for Deidara to do anything. And he was starting to get restless too.   
Deidara hadn't been his usual explosive-happy self mostly due to how tired he was earlier, and Sasori's change of heart that had seemed to calm him down some, but now seeing the red head being so vicious and venomous towards him again, it was urging Deidara's desires to blow something up. His barely noticeable smile from the Uchiha's interaction with him disappeared, replaced with a frown now.But if there was one thing he noticed about people after watching them closely, it was their weaknesses.  
He saw the stagger, the very slight and unnoticeable stagger than Itachi had tried to conceal. His slow blink, his moment's hesitation when he stopped using that sharingan of his. It was obvious he overexerted himself and had little energy left in him, so why was he picking a fight with Sasori of all people? "Un, go to your room. You can barely walk, hm." He didn't use any hint of concern in his tone, looking over his shoulder at the Uchiha from a side glance, his facial expression blank for a moment before he glanced away from Itachi.

Sasori narrowed his steely eyes and took in the hesitant movements and slight sway of Itachi's body. It had always been there, concealed and barley noticed even by someone as expirienced with little details such as Sasori, but this time it was clear as day. A small, sinister smirk crossed Sasori's face as the puppet grabbed a small bolt and flicked it at the Uchiha's head. "That's right, coward, its nap time isnt it? Wouldnt want your Nanny Shark to worry, would we?''  
As for Deidara? Well, Sasori could care less about what he felt or thought. If the brat wanted to take to chumming it up with Itachi, that was his business. But, the small pang of jealousy pricked at the back of his mind. Why did the dumbass need to hang around Itachi in the first place? When Saosri was here all damn day? He turned to the blonde, continuing his plan. "I'm sorry if I was taking up the space. You can keep the shelf, I dont give a damn."

Itachi shot his rm up and caught the bolt, turning around and walking over to the smug puppet. "I think you dropped something." He responded coolly, looking the man in the eyes and setting it down. He could handle the abuse himself, but no one spoke of Kisame that way. He had enough problems as it were. "Before you make remarks or comment on another's faults, I would suggest you perfect yourself first. A few inches in height ought to be a good start."

  
Sasori growled, rolling his sleeved up and standing on his tiptoes. Itachi may be short, but the puppet master was still sadly shorter than him. he stuck a finger in the stuck-up, pure-bred loser and scowled. "Is that challenge? Because I'll kick your ass any time, you name the place. Don't think I wont kill you just because you and my brat seem to be best pals now- chump."

  
To say that he was confused was an understatement. Deidara had no fucking clue what was going on between Sasori and Itachi now, aside from the fact that Itachi insulted Sasori's height and for one reason or another, that seemed to set Sasori off way more than usual. And since when did Sasori call Deidara his brat? He was always just the brat, nothing more and nothing less. He wasn't an object to be possessed or belong to someone by name! So what the hell was that red-head puppet thinking?

  
"Danna, knock it off, yeah! You pick a fight here and Leader-Sama is gonna have all our asses over this!" Deidara argued as he got between the Uchiha and his puppeteer partner, forcefully having to push Sasori away from Itachi. And no, he wasn't getting soft or 'getting chummy' with the Uchiha. He was just treating the Uchiha like the others now.

  
Itachi cursed mentally at having shown any weakness. He should have hidden it better, as Sasori was now preying on him for it. Like a shark did around any trace of blood. But, comparing the puppet to Kisame was insulting and he stopped the thought quickly. "Call me what you will, but only scum would kill their comrades." He said, daring the man to hit him as Deidara shoved him aside. Perhaps, for once, he would allow a fight to ensue.

  
"Oh yeah? Then what does that make you?" He growled, "Other than a hypocrite?" Sasori was well aware, every shinobi was, of what Itachi had done to his clan. His family no less. Killing people by the village was a trademark of the puppet's, but he would never- never - have killed his own parents. That one fact about Itachi, was enough to make fury course through his core instead of chakra.

  
Sasori's words were like poisoned arrows, piercing the Uchiha's heart. He hid his emotions, only narrowing his eyes at the man, on the outside he was cold as marble but internally he was weeping. The inescapable monster, known to Itachi as past and fate, haunted him at every moment of his life. His friends, family, loved ones, allies, comrades, innocents killed all for the sake of this organization... their blood would forever stain his pale hands. Some nights, if Itachi didnt force himself to sleep, he could hear their voices telling him to kill himself and atone for his sins. To go to hell where killers belonged. 

  
The thought was tempting, but he wasnt so weak as to kill himself- to take the coward's way out. No, he would fix this some other way. One that would save him and his little brother. They would both get the justice they deserved. The dark-haired man refused to sink to Sasori's level of hostility and merely glared. "Do not judge my actions until you can understand them- or me." Knowing Sasori, none would be happening all too soon. He refused to get close to someone so needlessly violent, so blood thirsty and cold. Itachi killed because he had too, not for fun as the puppet did. No one, not even Kisame, knew how he had sobbed on the roof the night he killed his clan. How, no matter what happened or how far he ran, no matter who he affiliated with, he would always consider himself Itachi of the Leaf. If he couldnt even tell Kisame, why would he tell this monster? No, he would never know. No one would.

  
"... Danna, that was a low fucking blow." Deidara said with a low growl to his voice. "You're acting a lot more aggressive, yeah. What's up with you? Cause if you just need to blow off some steam, I'm sure Leader-Sama has a lot of villages you can check out, hm." He looked Sasori in the eyes when he spoke, just a few inches taller than the red head puppeteer.

  
He'd get it if he was being aggressive and lashing out at Deidara because, well, Sasori hated Deidara. That much was plain and obvious, and it was said on multiple occasions. Mostly due to Deidara being annoying or their disagreements on their views of art, but this was random. Now it seemed like Sasori was picking fights with everyone but him, and it was starting to become more evident. Sasori was getting restless for whatever reason it may be, and he was lashing out without any true goal in mind.   
What was up with him? An idea came to mind, he wanted to test something against the puppeteer. "Hey, Itachi. Take a walk, yeah?" Deidara said to the raven haired man, for the first time since joining the organization, actually saying his name instead of 'Uchiha' like usual.

Sasori waited until Itachi left, barking out insults before spinning over to Deidara. "Itachi? He's Itachi now? Are you insane or just incredibly stupid?" Sasori had no idea where the sudden desire to kill Itachi for this encounter came from. Had it been pride or a desire to prove himself, than he would understand. But, as it was now, he was left clueless and the feeling didnt sit well with the proud, high strung, intelligent man.

  
He was so used to having all the answers, being in the dark added to his already piling frustrations. But, the mind game would continue. It was far too soon to rip the brat's heart out and crush his soul. He calmed himself down with great struggle before moving all his puppets and starting to put them into scrolls. "Im moving these into my workshop. Dont say I was never nice to you, got it?"

  
Something was definitely wrong with Sasori. The guy needed to blow off steam, that's for sure, but what had caused this in the first place? Was he just struggling with a puppet or something? "Un, since when did you notice how I call people?" Deidara questioned back before he stepped back to his side of the room and pulled out one of his buckets of clay, one of his hand mouths chewing up a good mouthful of it and chewing it around for a while. 

  
He disregarded Sasori for the time being, since the puppeteer seemed busy with putting his excess puppet parts away into several scrolls. "Un... No one would believe me if I told them anyways, yeah." He said with a shrug, using his free hand, that wasn't currently chewing on clay, to put his books onto the now empty shelf between their sides of the room.

  
Sasori muttered off a long string of curses as he packed his work up and set the scrolls in a bag, kicking over a nightstand. This whole ordeal was becoming one major waste of time- for everyone. He needed to kick it into high gear or just give up entirely. Let it be said: Sasori didnt do 'quit'. The red-head trained his grey eyes on the blonde and stared hard, contemplating what he could say to throw the blonde off guard, longing to see him squirm like the little worm he was.   
The stupid foul piece of shit deserved to suffer, him and that stupid, obnoxious, bubbly personality of his. The puppet master set the bag down and walked over the the blonde, trailing a hand down his waist, softer than ever before, caring almost if you forgot who was doing it. "I really am sorry."

Deidara froze at the shockingly gentle touch. It wasn't the location of the touch that was surprisingly him to the point where his mind won't process it properly. It was the fact that it was Sasori that had his hand on Deidara, in a gentle manner, and not aiming to crush his bones or another notion of the sort. Sasori was a man of his word. When he said he would crush your bones, he made sure you were counting them as they were being crushed. When he said he would drag your death out slowly, he'd make you feel every needle in your body as he injected poisons into your bloodstream. 

  
Death came as second nature to Sasori. But something like this? It was shocking to see at all, much less have it being done on you. Deidara and Sasori were known to argue all the time, always about something pertaining to either their views of art or Deidara's habits. He was younger than the others, yes, but it didn't mean he was any less dangerous. Right now though, he didn't feel any danger in the situation he was in. In fact, he was almost nervous, even shocked enough to admit being a bit less tense now.

Sasori was acting so differently.. Was he truly changed? "... Un, you mean that, don't you?" His head turned to gaze at the red head, over his shoulder. Baby blue eyes met dull brown ones, curiosity and confusion floating around in his orbs as he awaited an answer from the puppeteer.

  
Of course he didnt. At all. In fact, Sasori was disgusted at having touched Deidara and wanted nothing more than to rip his hand off and burn it to ash. The gesture was disgusting, Deidara's tense and almost... hopeful reaction to it was even more disgusting. The poor, naive brat truly believed the puppet master would change. It was the most pitiful thing he had heard all year. And this was coming from the guy who had people begging for mercy and attempting to barter the lives of their children to save their own about every week.  
The red-head fought the urge to shoot about 1,000,000 CC's of poison into the brat's body just for looking at him that way, as if Sasori were just another human being and not the demon he had come to be known as all over the globe. The demon he was proud to be known as, worked hard to be known as. He clenched his fist and released it a few times before sighing. Now would not be the time for biting insults, as it would throw off the entire game-plan for revenge, but if he were too- gag - nice, then Deidara would be more suspectful.   
He would need to be sarcastic at least."No, I'm just wasting my breath because I enjoy it." The puppet master set the bag of scrolls on his bed and smirked. "Its a new hobby of mine, I'm getting pretty good. I'd challenge you to a match, but we all know you'd beat me. You are, after all, the master of the sport." No, that was too far. He was reaching more hurtful than good-humored. God, being a decent person was hard. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. Playing the shy and 'okay, I guess I'll admit this, but don't hug me' type. "Yeah, I mean it."

Of course Sasori would find a way to insult him. No matter what sort of moment they were in, where they were, or who was around. He didn't care, everyone knew that. At least Deidara could use that to confirm it with himself that Sasori was feeling alright. Aside from a weird change of heart, that appeared out of nowhere, Deidara thought Sasori seemed fine. He was still being sarcastic and using it quite smoothly to lash out at the blond bomber, so it meant something.  
A twitch of Deidara's eye showed his slight bit of irritation at the insult, but it was obvious to anyone that he didn't mind it. If anything, Deidara looked relieved to hear Sasori say that. "Un, it's fine. Just keep the fighting outside or Leader-Sama will get pissed at all of us."He went over to his bed and plopped down, one arm tucked under his head and the other arm lying across his stomach, one leg propped up at the knee while the other remained sprawled out. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a part 2


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> || ive decided to leave this one unfinished, as these are drabbles i wrote with friends and on the back of my coursework. some are finished, some are not, some are just ideas. if you havent seen the movie in this chapter i highly suggest you do. its great.||

Itachi lightly rapped on the door, bored out of his mind since Kisame was ignoring him still. Pein had cancelled all meetings and missions due to severe summer storms and left them all to their own devices. He had no idea why he was coming back, but making sure the two were both alive and breathing after that fight seemed ideal. "Are you in here?"

  
Sasori felt the old, familiar build up of rage beginning again, but crushed it for the sake of his revenge. Besides, he wasnt too concerned anymore anyways. "Depends on who's asking, punk."He opened the door after glaring at it for several seconds and realizing he couldnt simply wish the intruder away. He could possibly poison him... No, Pein would pitch a bitch fit. Instead, he walked over to his bed, took a log of wood and a knife. He would whittle his frustrations away.

Deidara rolled his eyes at the snappy remark Sasori made, having expected that completely. At least the puppeteer wasn't shoving Itachi around or threatening him with poison or weapons from those damn puppets that were just so fucking creepy. Deidara didn't like them, not only because of how they looked, but because they were loaded with death traps, were unpredictable because Sasori was unpredictable, and because of their dead look. It was creepy as hell to have a doll stare at you lifelessly. 

  
Either way, Deidara just glanced over at the door where the Uchiha stood. "Need something, hm?" He asked, casually hiding the little clay figurine he made of Itachi under his free arm, his other arm tucked under his head. His golden silky locks of hair were sprawled over his pillow, bangs covering one eye as usual, but he was a lot more relaxed than normal in the room with Sasori. "Not much in the room. Just puppets and some clay, yeah."

  
Itachi looked around the room, giving an acknowledging hum to Deidara. He was well aware of the presence, or the now disappearance, of the creepy dolls and puppets. He was no 'artist', not by Sasori's crazed definitions and requirements, but he was fairly certain some of them were made of human bodies. The Uchiha pitied Deidara, unsure of how he could sleep with the eyes of dozens of corpses staring at him.

  
The raven haired man stepped into the room and ignored Sasori, noticing the head of a small figure peeking out of his pocket. He wasnt aware the red-head had taken up clay work... "Pein is cancelling all outings relating to the finding and capturing of bijuu. I was wondering if any of you were wanting to do something, as Kisame is throwing a tantrum and I refuse to spend time with Hidan or Tobi."   
Their idea of fun involved Snoop Dog music and playing ping pong with their faces. Idiots... Besides, as much as Itachi would prefer a quiet evening alone, he was growing rather fond of Deidara and his strange sense of humor, a mix of making fun of people, while making sure not to ignore what was good about them either. He was a strange shinobi, that much was sure, but he was also better company than Tobi. When it came down to more isolation or Tobi: Itachi chose Deidara. Sasori was merely an add-on, part of a package deal he would be forced to take.

  
At the mention of Pein cancelling missions to find the tailed beasts, Deidara paused, having to let the thought run through his brain and get processed once more before he sat up confused, fingers curled around the little Itachi clay statue he made. It remained hidden in his hand. "Un, he did what?" It sounded sort of strange really. Pein had been after the tailed beasts for so long, yet all of a sudden he decided to stop all searches for them? Well, at least it allowed Deidara to finally relax and, in secret go back to read the Pit and the Pendulum.  
Of course, he was going to practice making more C2s. He could make birds, scorpions, bats, spiders, and he attempted a snake once, but it wasn't that great of an explosion. So he was aiming to perfect more animals. More preferably, snakes and small rodents possibly. He'd possibly look for bigger animals later.Now, spending time with Itachi had always been against every rule in his book. He had despised and loathed the Uchiha because it had been him that Deidara lost against and had to forcibly join the organization.  
Had it not been for the Sharingan, he could have been a rogue ninja running from village to village and staying away from the places he was most wanted in.But things were a little different now. Itachi had been starting to get more on Deidara's side of things and against Sasori's, supporting him now. It was extremely strange and weird and Deidara really didn't want to figure out why this suddenly happened, but hey, he wouldn't complain. Just meant there was one less person to worry about stabbing him behind the back, especially with him being the youngest in the ground and the newest, although Tobi was technically the newest, he didn't count. He was an idiot."I guess, yeah. Depends on what you mean by 'do something' hm."

Sasori huffed and puffed and wanted to knock the Uchiha down, but he didnt. For some damn reason unknown to him, he didnt. The redhead simply set his little figure on a shelf not caring if Deidara knew he kept it in actuality. Hell, he hoped Itachi saw it. Saw it and realized that he wasnt going to get anywhere in this whole "steal your partner" game. No sir. Wouldnt get anywhere at all, except ass kicking land if he kept it up. "Fine, we'll 'do something'. But, I'm in charge, and you keep your hands where I can see them." He growled, shoving past the two ninja and leaving the room. Screw them all.

  
Itachi watched as Sasori barged out of the room. He had no complaints of being shoved around, and was more than a little bit satisifed with the fact that the red-head was acting like less of an angry toddler on crack than usual. He did, however, feel a little sorry for Deidara being partnered with such an asshole. For as much of a sadistic, pig-headed, stubborn ass Kisame was he, at least, drew the line at attacking his partner.

  
The Uchiha sighed and picked up a chair that had been knocked over with the puppeteers escape, because that was what Itachi would be calling it, and set it right-side-up once more. He watched the artist disappear down the hall and wondered what he had to be so mad about all the time. Itachi got the feeling if no one was around, he'd start a fight with himself, just to have someone to bicker with. "I don't know what 'something' is yet. I figured I would ask ahead to save time. No use in making plans if the intended participants dont wish to take any interest i them."   
He shrugged. If his own partner wasnt being a major butthole, he would occupy himself there instead. "We can watch a movie, clean the hide-out, glue all of Sasori's belongings to the ceiling and see how long it takes for him to notice." The last suggestion was a far stretch from how disinterested and, for the most part, passive and uninvolved Itachi usually was, but Sasori had been fraying his nerves all week. He was sure Deidara agreed for the most part.

  
He sat up on his bed, not caring that he was playing with the little clay Itachi statue he made, placing it in his lap after a moment. Deidara was seated on the bed criss-cross applesauce, his golden locks of silky smooth hair falling over his face and softening his appearance to that of an innocent child. Baby blue eyes didn't seem to help with the appearance, instead softening his curios gaze at the Uchiha. He was a tad bit suspicious still, but it was better than being maimed into a puppet, he admitted. 

  
"Un.. I don't wanna get Danna pissed off at me. No touching his things... What movies do you even watch, hm? You don't seem like the movie type, just the book type, yeah." Deidara asked curiously, an eyebrow raised and rather confused about Itachi's sudden interest in wanting to spend time with him. Why would he? Is this just some sort of elaborate plan to make Deidara drop his guard or something?

Itachi, contradictory to what his actions were suggesting, didnt honestly crae about spending time with Deidara. He was bored and Kisame was occupied. That and too much isolation would cause suspicions from Pein. "Fine, we wont touch any of is belongings. They're weird looking anyways. " 

  
He traced a finger along a shelf edge, thinking. He liked a lot of movies, but which one to watch was another matter. That and remaining the ''tough'' guy was sort of a must, when you worked here. Oh well, no matter what he told Deidara, no one would believe the blonde if he mentioned it outside of now. He was just a child to the others.  
"I like a lot of movies, romance, action, suspense, horror." Just nothing with too much death or triggers, he reminded himself. "We can watch anything, but I do favor Tim Burton films and the movie Elizabethtown more than anything else. I refuse to watch Saw, Blade, or The Punisher. Period. No questions."

  
Deidara had yet to hear about this Elizabethtown movie. He couldn't recall ever watching it, so he might as well, right? A movie sounded better than getting destroyed, poisoned, and sliced up by one of Sasori's puppets out of his rage for touching his stuff. Or even Sasori himself. He was still slightly wart of the Uchiha for opening up to him like this so suddenly.. 

  
"Didn't take you for the romance type, yeah. You seem too broody for it... What about Elizabethtown, hm?" He suggested, caring not to make Itachi open up. Though it would be nice if he had someone he could converse with other than Sasori who sometimes decided threatening Deidara was more fun than doing something else.

  
Itachi reached into his pocket and pulled out a caseless DvD. He honestly didn't take Deidara for a romance type either, hmm. Interesting. Oh well, the more you know. People weren't always what they seemed outwardly. After all, Kisame sings Baby Shark when no one is listening. Except Itachi. Itachi is always listening to everyone. "I will put it on downstairs then. Feel free to join, but if you try to set me on fire, there will be repercussions."

  
🆁🅾🆄🅶🅷🅻🆈 🆃🅷🆁🅴🅴 🅷🅾🆄🆁🆂 🅻🅰🆃🅴🆁 🅳🆄🅴 🆃🅾 🅰🅽🅽🅾🆈🅸🅽🅶 🅸🅽🆃🅴🆁🆁🆄🅿🆃🅸🅾🅽🆂

Deidara sat there astounded at the movie they'd just watched. It honestly sounded like it was going to be a shit chick flick movie, but this was nothing close to being such a thing. There was a slow progression in the beginning yeah, but slowly it started to delve more and more into the more emotional sides of the story. He cared little for the fact that there were several interruptions during viewing the movie, Deidara had genuinely been invested in the plot of this movie. "Un... It's over already?"

  
The Uchiha understood Deidara's statement to the fullest; every time he watched this movie it was always his first thought. 'It's over already?' Such a great movie. "It would seem so." Itachi turned the system off and sat up on the couch, looking around for Sasori who he could have sworn was spying on them over and over again. "Your partner's lack of respect for other's private time astounds me."

  
The blond bomber paused for a moment before he shrugged his shoulder since he hadn't noticed Sasori constantly watching him in all honesty. He'd been too focused on the movie to really pay attention to his surroundings. And he hadn't noticed that for the last half of the movie, he'd been leaning against Itachi's arm. Even now, as he sat up off the couch and stretched, it didn't register into his mind that he'd done such a thing. He'd been really comfortable in that moment. "Un, that's Sasori for you."

  
Itachi sat back down and stretched his aching arm, tucking it back into his sleeve as usual. He glanced over at the doorway, making sure Kisame wouldnt interrupt him- as always- with a lame dad joke. (Only, he called them Shark Jokes). "Yes, and Kisame also. I heard his giant footsteps outside the room several times." 

  
The Uchiha sighed, content for once, he always enjoyed romance movies- even if he never told anyone. "Yes, I enjoyed that movie. But, I can't refrain from laughing throughout the entire thing. The dark humor gets me every time.''

  
"I thought it was pretty intense and deep, hm. Dark themed, yeah, but it was good." Deidara responded after he'd stretched and popped his spine, letting out a breath of relief at the satisfying feeling. Sitting in one place for too long was gonna do that to you. He glanced around for a moment before scratching his head. "Un. I didn't hear anything really. Too focused on the movie, so I wouldn't know."

Sasori stepped into the room and stood in front of the TV, arms crossed and glaring. He had been waiting hours to interject, but halfway through- when Deidara's arm began to get movey movey- he had to sit and stare, transfixed. He couldnt believe that his partner would ever been seen- seen- canoodling the Uchiha. "Brat-"

  
"Un?" Deidara just now noticed Sasori's presence, giving the red head a confused look with his visible eyebrow being raised. Running his fingers through his ponytail before smoothing up his long bangs, Deidara adjusted the scope implant over his left eye, waiting for an answer from Sasori as to why he was looking so pissy. "What? I didn't touch any of your stuff this time, Danna. The room is clean, my stuff is on my side of the room, and I fixed the door I blew up, yeah."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> || ive decided to leave this one unfinished, as these are drabbles i wrote with friends and on the back of my coursework. some are finished, some are not, some are just ideas. if you havent seen the movie in this chapter i highly suggest you do. its great.||


	9. Oil and Wine dont mix

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> some kisaita CRACK for a filler

Since it was about midnight currently, it made sense for the two ninja to be sitting in their beds completely wide awake, since that is just how shit worked here evidentially. Itachi had spent many hours wading in his own self-hatred and sorrow, pondering the meaning of life and all things philosophical when he felt the need to share a semi-depressive observation with his partner

  
''Genjutsu..." Itachi spoke softly, staring at the wall beside his bed. The dark haired male groaned quietly as his aching, wasting hand began to feel as if it was set on fire.

  
''Yeah, and what about it?" Kisame grunted, already annoyed with the way things had transpired that day. Lame Hidan had beat him at a game of stab and seek again, as if that would do wonders for his already crippled self esteem. He had no time to play guess and tell with his partner tonight.  
''I've been thinking a lot about it lately. More so than usual. I think...Everyone lives...within their own subjective interpretation. In a way... we all create our own illusions..." The Uchiha rolled over in his bed to face Kisame's across the room, cradling his bad arm. "Would you agree?"

  
"Jesus, not another philosophy lesson," Kisame groaned, burying his face in his pillow. Itachi was great and all, but sometimes he was more than anyone could put up with. He could see why Deidara hated him. But, the question had struck a bigger chord with him than he let on, as Itachi always did. Because they all lived in their own illusions and Kisame was no different. His whole bravado, his mannerisms, his need to be seen as nothing but a ruthless killer who'd turn his back on a partner the second the need arises... it wasnt him. It was who he tried to convince himself he was. After... after the incident.

  
"I don't intend on teaching you or giving any sort of lecture, Kisame. I was merely making an observation." Itachi sighed, brushing hair out of his face with body language that everyone mistook for arrogance. In reality, it was something he wasn't aware of turning on, not being so arrogant in the first place.

  
"If youre gonna bore me to death you can at least stop actin' like youre better than me, just cuz youre some stupid Uchiha." Kisame glared, throwing the pillow at his partner. He sat up in bed and rooted around for his sword. "I'm sick of your shit Itachi."

  
It seemed Itachi has struck a chord with his earlier statement, something that happened whenever he mentioned something that hit too close to home for his shark friend. Still, hurtful or not, Kisame had no right to react to him with violence or cruelty. Itachi threw the pillow back onto the bed and sat up as well. "If you have something to say to me, do it. I refuse to play games with you."

  
"Pretty sure I did, wise ass." He growled, grabbing Samehada and throwing his cloak on roughly. He didnt have time to play share-our-feelings tonight. Today had been shitty for the shark and he had no intention on sitting here and dealing with his partner's crippling depression and his need to pass it on to others.

  
"Be that way if you wish, but don't think of asking me to cook for you after this." Itachi would allow him to vent, but cooking for an asshole was not going to happen. If he wanted to be rude, so be it. Two could play at that game.

  
"Dont want your sick ass cooking for me anyways." It was a low blow, but the Uchiha deserved it. Sort of. A little bit.

  
Itachi glared, clenching his hand into a fist. Venting was one thing, even taking out his frustrations on him was one thing, but bringing up The Illness was entirely different. The Uchiha spent every waking moment, hiding it and pretending everything was fine. It was a struggle, a war that he fought awake or asleep. Yet here Kisame was, using the very thing that literally killing him as they spoke, as a weapon. 

  
"I am glad to know how much you think of me, Kisame. My only wish is that you told me sooner." Itachi pulled his hair back and grabbed his own cloak, pulling on his sandals and shoving past Kisame, rougher than he normally was. "I'm taking Pein up on a solo mission, I'm not coming back, you'll have to cook on your own." He glared at Kisame over his shoulder, "Don't strain yourself."  
"Shouldnt be a problem, I'm not the dumb ass who cant even use his eyes without blacking out." He growled, shoving past Itachi as the smaller male had done. Kisame had no idea where the sudden rudeness was coming from, only that it could possibly have something to do with him being a defensive asshole. The arrogant look Itachi had made earlier was enough to bring back old issues with inferiority.

  
'Dumb-ass...' So, this is how it will be then, Kisame. Itachi zipped his robe up with an angered flourish of his hand and spun away from the shark, making his way downstairs. "At least, I am not the fool who throws every good thing away because he is afraid of an event that may or may not happen in the future. At least, I know how to treasure something for as long as it lasts. Unlike you, who is not even fit to be sushi."

  
"Go suck a dick, Itachi." Kisame snapped, continuing down the opposite stairwell. He had no intention on following his partner down the stairs.

  
"Maybe I will," Itachi shouted from his own stairs, walking down them as slowly as possible because he knew that was what Kisame was doing. "But it wont be yours."

  
"Only because I wont let you, loser-" Kisame yelled as he stomped his way down the stairs a s slowly as possible because he knew Itachi knew thats what he was doing which meant he was doing it as well.

  
"It is a good thing I don't want to then," Itachi said, pulling the 'too good for you' card out of the deck he didnt like to use because it was rude. Oh well, it got the job done.

  
"What do you mean you 'dont want to'!?" Kisame roared, marching back up the stairs to confront Itachi on his own. There was no way in hell the Uchiha wanted to play whose dick was better than whose game right now.

  
"I mean, it is probably contaminated." Itachi said, spinning around and meeting Kisame back in front of the room. "Who knows where it has been?"

  
"Youre one to speak about contamination, prick. Mr. I cough blood up all over the bedroom and pretend it never happened," Kisame grabbed Itachi by the collar and hoisted him off the ground, glaring. "I could break you in two, Uchiha."

  
Itachi narrowed his eyes, flashing his Sharingan, "I'd like to see you try." He had taken on people bigger than Kisame when he was only a child, besides the shark was too cocky enough to dodge attacks from Itachi.

  
Kisame was well aware that Itachi could kill him, quickly, if he wanted to. So, in a way, the man was being nice by allowing him to act as such an ass. But, no one ever said Kisame was a genius who was well aware of how to count blessings. The shark threw his partner aside and grumbled as he walked back into the room. "Dont go on some stupid mission. Its lame."

  
"I still refuse to cook for you." Itachi said, standing up and walking in to the room. He was used to Kisame's every-so-often mood swings, but that didnt mean he condoned them. "If you've finished pouting, we can clean this room back up."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not use Engish often am sorry if I did not spell things correctly


	10. But it tastes great on a salad

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> if you get the relationship between Kisame and Itachi and these the prior and current chpater, lemme know in the comments~! ><

The recon mission had uncovered no new plots or movements against the Akatsuki, only the terrifying lack of security at Konohagakure Village. It seemed the Anbu had gone from the highly feared and respected secret police and tactics force that Itachi had known, to a circus of 'Special Ops' that were only used for emergencies. There had been no Shinobi present at all to notice him and Kisame snooping around...even when the shark had dropped Samehada and tripped on his cloak.

  
The Uchiha sighed as he walked into the main hideout, taking his cloak off. He did not understand what the point of them were. All they did was get in the way of combat, sitting, laying down, eating, drinking, breathing. Tch, someday Pein would get himself arrested for committing the fashion crime of the century.

  
Kisame had nothing against the bad-ass cloaks they all wore, what they had in beauty and intimidation made up for all they lacked in functionality. In all honesty, the cloak gave him a burst of confidence and sense of belonging. The feeling was something he had grown up unaccustomed to, having lived his entire life trapped within the racist and oppressive caste system of Kirigakure. He placed a hand on boring Itachi's shoulder, he gave the man a slight shove through the entrance way. "Somethin' eatin' ya, Itachi?"

  
Itachi let Kisame gently push him into the main room of the hideout, stepping away from the shark's touch so he could remove his shoes. The raven-haired man set both his sandals in front of a wall, placing cloak on a peg in the wall. "For a loner, you are quite nosy, Kisame."

  
It was always hard to get a solid read on Itachi; the shinobi's face and voice were always devoid of emotion. He was boring beyond belief and Kisame loathed it. "I'm a loner because I'm a freakshow, you're a loner by choice." The pain and isolation of Kisame's past would always be a constant sting that he would rather keep inside than share.

  
Itachi isolated himself for much of the reasons that Kisame did. Although, the better half of his pain could all be traced back to himself and his own actions, not his race or clan history. It was him who had chosen to murder his clan and family, who had chosen to allow himself to be painted as a monster because he knew it was what they all needed. He had no room to speak of the pain of isolation or discrimination, not like Kisame did. Still... 

  
"You aren't a freakshow. You are my partner, Kisame Hoshigaki, the scourge of the Hidden Mist, and there is no one else I would trust my life to the way I do with you." Well, other than a few people: Konan Yutaka, Kakashi Hatake, and Shisui Uchiha. The other Akatsuki threw their partners to the dogs, choosing to save them only of t benefits them in the long-run. They would sever the ties of loyal that bound them together, shredding the tapestry of trust, in a moments notice.  
Konan had a good heart, she would save a comrade even if there was no reward. Out of all the Akatsuki, besides Kisame, this is who he trusted most. Itachi would always have a lifetime of respect for Kakashi, if he were still a Leaf Shinobi, this is who he would trust his life to. As for Shisui? He pushed the thought as far away from his mind as he could, already feeling himself melting into a puddle of depression.

  
Itachi... did...was he being genuine? Kisame took his sandals off and tossed them aside carelessly. His cloak was unzipped, but left on, sleeves rolled up. It was hard to tell when Itachi was being honest, or if his replies were all apart of some larger plan. He'd accept this as a compliment anyways; a fake compliment was a lot less annoying or troublesome as the Hunting-nin of Kirigakure, anyways. He grabbed a pillow from the floor and tossed it on the couch laying down. "Whatever."

  
Itachi sighed, following his partner to the couch and sitting on the floor, back against the sofa, with his eyes closed. The mission had tired him out more than he had cared to admit. "Are you hungry, Kisame?"

  
Kisame grunted in response, rolling over to face Itachi's profile. Deidara had been right when he called Itachi (yes this happened) handsome. Although, the word seemed to strong for him. If Kisame had to pick one he would go with beautiful or ethereal. He traced the length of Itachi's narrow nose with his eyes, following it past his dark, thick lashes and to the top pf his soft hair. "You kiddin'? I could fit the entire Leaf Village in my stomach."


	11. Itachi's DIsease Explained

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Filler and educational, love me or hate me

I am too lazy- as expected- to sit and reformat everything here. Here is the link to my post about this on Quora. Ignore the title on here, because my answer tied into their question.  
  
<https://www.quora.com/What-happened-to-Itachi-Uchihas-left-hand/answer/Kankuro-No-Kusagakure>


	12. What are we doing with ourselves...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> KisaIta angst

Following the exit of Deidara, Itachi sat closer to Kisame, putting a hand on the sharks knee, resisting the urge to wince in pain. It wasn't often that he would resort to physical comfort or affection- hardly either at all, when you think of it- but Kisame seemed to need extra reassurance today. And Itachi needed to make up for his need to be realistic with people, it seemed. He knew Kisame wasn't good with emotions or expressing them, but the silent treatment and the cold shoulder was... unsatisfactory. ''Are you angry with me, Kisame?"

  
The Hoshigaki clansman grit his teeth and kept his fist balled, resisting the urge to just pound the Uchiha's face in there and then. Kisame had spent years trying to find his place in the world, had come to the Akatsuki because it was the only place he could go- he was lost, confused, and living a lie. Hell, to this day, he still is. Killing Kirigakure ninja as a Kirigakure ninja had placed thoughts in his head. Who was he, what was his purpose? Where did he belong, could he belong?  
Even in Akatsuki he was nothing more than a lonely butcher of men. But, then he had gotten closer to the Uchiha, thought they understood each other, let his guard down... and for what? To lose him? To be helpless to fix the situation, to be a pussy about things? No, he wouldn't be weak. Wouldn't let Itachi or his gentle, bony hands make him feel that way anymore. ''Remember what I said the day we met?"

  
Itachi sighed, a long lock of hair falling into his gaunt face. The Konohagakure rouge knew where this was heading, though he really wished he didn't. The Uchiha didnt want to lose another comrade, and not one so special as Kisame. For all his faults, his annoying opinions, and need to kill *everything* without thinking was.. A bother and a hindrance. But, he loved his shark friend and had never wanted to lose him to anything other than death. And even then, it was hard. Itachi trained his onyx eyes on the tatami floor. "To watch my back."

"You should do that from now on.'' From this day forward, they would be rivals. Enemies. Kisame shoved Itachi's good hand off of him and rose to his feet, jaw set and determined not to look at the Uchiha's puppy dog gaze. He was unsure if Itachi knew he even had such a face, but he did and it was made quite often if people paid attention to him.

Itachi glared at the bitter tone and blatant immaturity being displayed by his partner. As if Itachi was to blame for his dying state, he hadn't asked to get sick, he hadn't asked to be dealt the hand of fate he had been. If he had asked for anything at all, it would have been to start over, To tell Sasuke he loved him one more time,to get home earlier and tell his parents he loved them, to tuck Sasuke in and actually play with him and instead of ditching him for Shisui...To see Shisui one last time before he... Itachi wanted to share dango with Izumi, sit with her on the dock just a little longer. He longed to listen to jokes about Minazuki Sensei's unpopularity with women, to speak to the ninja cats and get picked on relentlessly by Shino and Tenma about how small and cute he was. There was no desire to do anything different. He knew trying to change anything would only result in a delay or something worse than his already current fate. All he wanted was to see the ones he cared about one last time, to hug them just a bit longer, smile just a bit more.  
  
Had he understood fully, just how irreversible time was like he did now...  
The Uchiha stood up himself, exhaling and brushing his hair over his shoulder, staring holes in the back of Kisame's head with his now active Sharingan. He spoke in a cold, low voice. "I would suggest you do the same, Hoshigaki. I still consider you a comrade,and I disapprove of violence, but I won't hesitate to turn you into sashimi, when under attack.You will be ended quickly and mercilessly, there will be no time for you to even catch a final glimpse of your killer, the thought forever ringing in your dead empty head.''

  
Kisame continued walking, his neck shivering just a bit when Itachi had suddenly gone cold on him. It seemed they truly would be reverting back to the beginning of things. He hadn't wanted this, not in this way, but at least he wouldnt have to look at a walking corpse any longer. "I'd skin you alive before you had the chance.'' 


	13. When Bonds Are Broken, Bridges Are Built

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> itachi and deidara shit

Itachi bit down on his lip as Kisame took off, uncaring and cold. His glare hardened and for the first time in a long time, almost ever, rage filled his veins. He exhaled deeply, as he reared his hand back and punched the wall as hard as he could, crying out in pain and pulling back his bloodied knuckles. Tears streaming from his weak, blind eyes. Why? Why did he destroy everyone- everything- he touched? The Uchiha was filled with raw emotion, quickly bubbling over after years of being suppressed. There was only one thing he knew how to do when he was starting to feel human again, the one thing he was taught to do other than to display something as 'weak' as 'emotions'. 

  
The Uchiha headed towards the training grounds, a place he had been far too weak to even walk to lately. Once he reached the far end of the training grounds, he stepped into a small building and grabbed whatever weapons called out to him. While some may strap themselves to the teeth and call themselves a warlord, there had been a time- still was if he pushed himself hard enough and used up whatever life he had left- where the Uchiha could kill an entire nation of warlords with just his hands and whatever shuriken he could find. Which is what he grabbed, a set of stars and kunai along with a plain katana blade. He was familiar with these weapons, even though he preferred not to have to use any under normal circumstances. Still, it was this or cry.   
  
  
The raven haired man readjusted his hair tightly, losing a couple sections in the process, before stepping out, tossing his cloak off and running at the nearest target, losing a handful of shuriken at their heads as he ran by, sliding down into a crouch and attacking the gut area with a kunai tossed using precise accuracy. Standing up on shaky feet, Itachi pushed himself harder than anyone should have to, removing the sword from its casing and slashing at the dummy from all directions, hate filling his eyes as he came down heavily upon the ground with ragged, bloody breaths. The long haired man looked small, just lying there like a dead, fragile, bird as he coughed and sputtered. The baggy black tshirt that had once only been a small-to-medium in size, now lay on his bony chest as an xxl of Kisame's would. His Sharingan slowly faded, leaving him temporarily- yet totally- blind as he let go of the sword, feeling entirely guilty for what he had done.  
  
  
"..." Itachi listened carefully to the sounds from the other end, now closer than when he had first got here, and heard Pein yelling at Deidara before storming off. What a silly boy, if he thought that would get rid of their leader so easily. He would only come back and be even more angry, blaming Deidara for the living room too. The raven haired man let out a weak chuckle, for some strange reason, it made him think of something Sasuke would have done. Distracting father with something Itachi had done in order to flee his own punishment

Deidara just sat on the ground with an annoyed scowl on his face, grumbling incoherent words under his breath and going about how much he hated Pein's attitude and that it wasn't his fault the stupid piercing kinked man had been acting like Tobi. That lollipop face always annoyed him to no end and some of those comments and action had been scary close to what Tobi did. It was the Rinnegan in action that had finally gotten Deidara to realize that it was definitely their leader that had been there and not Tobi.   
"Un... Not my fault he was acting like a dumbass high off candy and sugar. Got one too many piercings to his face that's messing with his brain and hormones..." He remained seated still, criss crossed and a hand to his head, rubbing the back of it. It wasn't lumped or bruised, not even swelled, thank Kami. It was just achy and felt sensitive is all, a sot hiss escaping him when he accidentally put too much pressure on it. "Hmm, can't go back in there now.

''Not sure...'' Itachi took a deep, painful intake of air. "That's how piercings work, Deidara. Unless, they are some kind of hormone injecting devices. Perhaps, that's why he acts so.. ridiculous.'' Why he was speaking to the blonde in this condition, but judging from the pain in the other's voice, it was likely he was injured. A head injury as well, perhaps. Adding that along with his reputation of being an idiot, wrongly spread by Sasori and Hidan, no one would believe the chatty blonde anyways, if he told.

  
Normally he would have jumped at the sudden appearance of the Uchiha, especially when he had the damn Sharingan on. He hated those eyes with a burning passion. But this time around, he didn't even bat an eye at the sudden voice. He'd heard something going on nearby so be just assumed it was someone here to train, not expecting it to be the Uchiha though. 

  
"Un, he acts like he's got one of those bars up his ass 24/7. How was I supposed to know he was Leader-sama and not Tobi in disguise? The stupid sugar addict does that all the time, hm!" Another hiss from his and Deidara had to hold his head with both hands, clenching his jaw and growling a little under his breath. Jeez, he must have really hit his head hard if raising his voice a little hurt.

  
Itachi drug himself to his feet, using what chakra he had strength left to summon to keep him balanced on his feet, and followed the sound of Deidara's voice as he tried not to blindly stumble too much. The Uchiha stopped walking when he got a few feet away from the blonde, not wanting to get to close that Deidara could fully tell how tiny he was or be able to smell the blood on his breath, notice his limp skeletal arm. Or the fact that he could see literally nothing other than an artistic looking blur with yellow on top. "I agree, but attacking someone who looks like your superior is never a good idea. Even if they arent, and suspicions are proved correct, to onlookers you become a murderer of your own affiliates.''

  
"Won't make much of a difference in my resume, hm. I've murdered enough Iwa nins in my time. What's another body to add to the list, yeah?" Deidara shrugged it off as casual and unimportant because, well, they deserved it for experimenting on him like that. They deserved death, worse if he could have tortured them. Instead, he killed them with the exact experiment they had tested him on. When Deidara looked up at the Uchiha, after finally feeling less lightheaded, he paused. 

  
It didn't take a genius to figure out how skinny and sicky the Raven haired man was. He looked like he could pass out at any second. He knew Itachi hadn't left the room longer than Sasori, but this made him look like he hadn't left the room for weeks. ".... Un? You look sickly and pathetic." He said casually but with an underlying tone of, was that worry?

  
''I'm fine. Your jaw, or what I'm assuming to be at least based on the way you keep hissing, is what needs to be taken care of. Honestly, you're like a child sometimes, waiting around for someone else to force you into taking care of yourself.'' The Uchiha clicked his tongue as though he disapproved, which he did somewhat, although it was mostly in amusement. He didnt mind Deidara as much as he hated Hidan and Tobi.The raven haired man would ignore the blonde's comment as if he didnt hear it, taking a few steps forward, slowly, and gradually stepping a bit faster when he was sure there was nothing the in the way to trip on. Itachi gently put his hand out, groping around softly until he found Deidara's chin, not caring if his stone cold front was lowered for now, and lightly poking the already swelling, bruising jaw. "You should have someone look at this for you. Does it hurt much when I touch it?''

  
In all honesty, Deidara hadn't noticed his jaw had also been bruised. He was more concerned about the back of his head, but it wasn't until Itachi had poked the swell that Deidara noticed any pain. He winced and hissed out, quick to grab the Uchiha's wrist to stop him from poking his jaw any further.  
"Un, that hurts like hell. Sharp and painful, and it burns."He'd have to get that fixed soon. Deidara took pride in three things in his life. His hair, his face, and his art. With his face now bruised, he'd have to use some of those herbal remedies he knew of to get the swelling to die down and for the bruise to go away naturally without having to turn purple, green or yellow.

''Well, it isnt broken or you would be sobbing like an infant in a corner somewhere. Though, it should teach you to mess with Leader-sama again.'' The Uchiha ran a hand through his thin and dying hair, giving a sigh that turned into a muffled, barking cough. Not here, he reminded himself, even though the pain of holding back his coughs was enough to make him want to sob like an infant in a corner somewhere. Itachi struggled a bit and draped his wasting hand and arm over his right shoulder and placed his right hand on Deidara's making as if he was leading the blonde to the hideout, when in reality he was hoping to be lead himself subtly. "Your partner has skilled hands, perhaps he can assist you in that.''(edited)

  
Deidara dug his heels into the grounds, stopping their advances into the hideout as he scowled at the Uchiha. "You think I'll seriously go in there after Leader-sama probably told Danna about our new chores, hmm? No way, un. You can go inside yourself, but I'm not going until Sasori is no longer occupying the bed room... I can take care of myself just fine, yeah. Without him."But that cough? Even muffled it sounded serious. Why's the idiot holding back? "Un, you're fucking sick. You need to take care of yourself first, yeah."

''I'm fine.'' Itachi growled harshly with a glare. Nothing he could do would fix his situation and he was tired of people not understanding that- people being Kisame, naturally. The Uchiha hung back, gently tapping out a half circle in front of him with the tip of his sandal, stopping when he found a rock that was too hard to measure out out its diameter. If he tripped an broke his arm, that would be it. Akatsuki Infiltration mission compromised. He couldnt do that, besides, he'd take far too long to heal. The Uchiha scoffed in frustration, tapping a bit farther and harder, wobbling as he did so. Curse these damn eyes of his. "I'll make sure Sasori doesnt eat you, don't worry. He's all bark and no bite when it comes to you.''

  
All bark and no bite? Sasori of all people? "What's that supposed to mean, un?" Deidara asked with a frown before slowly leading the raven haired man's blind ass into the hideout, tugging on his wrist and walking him down the halls towards where his and Kisame's room was. Of course, because it was dark, he had to be careful the Uchiha didn't trip over his own feet, so the blond bomber led him at a steady pace.

  
''It means, he's threatened to kill you for years now, with patience that sparse and a temper so quick, he would have acted by now. Sasori, for all eccentricity, is quite a predictable and easy to read man. He does the same thing every day whether he notices it or not. That- and he kept the small sculpture you made. Its hidden under a rag on his shelf.'' Itachi was grateful for the guiding hand and clung to Deidara with his bony grip, making sure to keep his bad arm where it wouldnt be touched, skeletal frame leaning into the blonde. It wasnt too noticeable if you didnt pay attention, like most people here, the only tell-tale sign to an idiot would be the rsuty stench of blood all over him but he could care less about anything other than seeing to it that Deidara's jaw was healed properly.

  
Well... he supposed that was true. Ever since they were partnered up, all Sasori did was threaten him without actually acting on it, no matter how many times Deidara fucked up. It wasn't always his fault either. Though, Sasori loved to make sure the blame fell upon him for anything and everything that happened. And he was usually on the receiving end of the punishments too, even without Tobi fucking things over for him. 

  
Sometimes he'd think, would it be better if he just left? Went rogue on this group of rogues? Just be on his own? Sasori was always complaining about him anyways. Tobi never left him alone. Pein could just recruit someone new. Hidan hated his guts, but then again, who did he not hate? Kakuzu was just... Kakuzu. Itachi was just there, even though Deidara didn't like him. And Kisame? Well... he was okay. Konan, he couldn't say anything about cause she was rarely around, only to give orders from Pein.  
Who would truly miss the bomber anyways? They already had one artists, albeit a terrible one that liked eternal art His C-Art was unique to only him, but it wasn't as powerful as the Sharingan, or poison, or the Rinnegan, or even eternal life. Among the large group of past and present Akatsuki members, Deidara was just.. there. "Un.. Didn't realize he'd kept the sculpture. Thought he had probably tossed it or burned it. Maybe even inspect it to figure out if he could replicate it."

  
'Who knows why he does what he does, I personally don't favor people like that. Killing with no reason other than sport.'' The Uchiha, tapped in front of him as he walked, once they were nearing the door to his and Kisame's room. Once this was realized, Itachi came to a screeching halt, digging his heels into the ground. "Now that I'm thinking of hobbies and habits, I realized that I need to clean the kitchen and prepare dinner.''   
Never mind the fact that he was dead near collapsing an din utter agony, chest feeling as if it were going to explode from being locked up and filled with unreleased coughs. He couldn't go in there an d invade the shark's personal space, it would be rude and highly counter productive after their argument. Itachi didnt need a conflict if it was avoidable. ''It would be wise if you tended to that jaw now, lest your face fall off in your sleep.''

"Yeah yeah, I will. Don't worry about my face, jeez... Not like I wasn't planning on doing that." Deidara muttered the last bit under his breath, a little frustrated that the stupid Uchiha was still trying to do something other than resting his ass. But whatever, it was his life, wasn't it? If he wanted to end it quickly, then so be it.  
Deidara dragged Itachi further down the corridor towards the #kitchen so he could go about making dinner since he was so stubborn about it. "I'm going back to my room, un. Danna's gonna wanna talk about our punishment since I'm sure Leader-sama already told him."


	14. AUTHOR'S NOTE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A note from me, King Lazy Ass Fuck

So, I hate doing this, but here it is- an author's note. I know, I know. I'm a piece of shit.  
Anyways, here it is:  
  
  
The next drabble/installment that goes along with this as well as the others are all finished.  
  
WHOA WHAT?! FINSISHED AND YOU HAVENT PUT THEM UP? ALEX WHATS WRONG WITH YOU?!  
  
Well, let me finish.  
  
They are complete but out of order and a mess. I'm lazy and it takes a lot of motivation just to get up in the morning let alone sort five hundred files of fanfiction. So, I will get to it. I promise.  
  
For now---  
Enjoy your day and be patient. I added all those chapters for you, my nonexistent readers.   
  
Reminder:  
Commenting makes me feel happy. Happiness makes me write faster. Writing faster means motivation. Motivation means updates. :' ))


	15. Another Note Because I'm A Piece Of Shit

Hello readers! I'm super happy to see that I can actually say that now. Four Kudos? Wow. Like, I know that's a small number compared to what other people get on here but being new to this platform and having my only read work be a shitshow? Four Kudos is killer!! Anyways:  
  
**A new set of chapters will be coming really really soon.  
  
**I recently was gifted a random Chomebook and I will be using it to store all of these drabbles to make it easier to find, access, and put them up here for you all. If you guys know anyone else who would like to read these, feel free to share it!  
  
**Comments also keep me going, so dont be shy to request events, endings, ships, or just let me know how I'm doing!  
  
**_If you know anyone who would like to read this, share it! _  
  
  


_**If you or someone you know would like to be a PART of the action, feel free to leave a comment asking for the Discord server link and I will invite you to that!!  
  
  
  
  
  
**_But for now? Its only a matter of time before this is updated so keep an eye out!  
  



	16. Part 2 of the Haku and Zabuza Drabble (Unfinished)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part 2 its not done it sucks im sorry

The sun shone brightly through the paper walls and open windows, falling upon Haku’s snowy white face with a gentle, warm ray. He cracked open his dark brown eyes and gazed out the windows of his and Zabuza’s home, listening to the sounds of bird song and a gentle breeze from his futon on the tatami. The boy pulled his blanket off and sat in a kneeling position, slowly folding it and setting it aside before putting the mattress away- blanket set on top of it- and sliding the shelves fusuma door closed. The long haired, pale male looked over at his sleeping master, watching as his thick chest rose and lowered itself as he breathed evenly. It was nice seeing him… a peace like this.

The boy untied the waist of his grey, pin-striped Jinbei and slowly pulled the shirt off, careful not to tug at the healing stitches in his hip as he set it to the ground, doing the same with his shorts. Haku peered down at the now nearly healed wound, sure to scar but not as bad as the others he had to show, and brushed his finger tip over it. Not as much pain as before and no more blood. The stitches would come out later today. He opened another small ‘closet’ and grabbed a neatly folded kimono in a light pink shade, slipping into and tying it, tugging at the choker on his neck. Had he remembered to feed his rabbits last night? Ah, yes, he remembered now. It had been after he put away the laundry and saw to it that Zabuza’s migraine was taken care of.

The sole Yuki descendant sat on the tatami flooring and opened a small box by a low table, pulling out a single comb and running it through his long hair. As it was something Zabuza would graze his fingers through in his sleep at night, the Yuki had decided long ago that he had best keep it nice unless he wished to receive scolding for a habit Zabuza would deny having. Silly man… Haku coating the teeth of the comb in a mixture of Camellia oil and Persimmon extract, continuing to comb his hair through until it lay flat and silky. Once this was done, he ran his fingers through it, collecting all but the shortest two sections in front and put it up in a bun, covering and securing it with his plain bun covering, before attaching weighted hair clasps to the two sections of front so that they would remain in their place. It wasn’t normally something he did when remaining home, but he hadn’t been issued any orders yet and things were dreadfully boring now that Zabuza had been leaving him at home more often.

The boy sighed and walked over to the window, resting his chin in his hands and losing his dark eyes. It was nice out here, away from everyone else, just them and nature. Out here, there was nothing to worry about- no people, no annoying village noises, no judgement, no warring clans. It was… serene. The warm yellow rays kissed his pale face and warmed his cheeks, while he immersed himself in the sweet breeze. If only Zabuza would notice this and take comfort in it the way Haku did. Perhaps, then, he wouldn’t seem so… lonely... inside.

Zabuza being the asshole he was, hadn’t had a single Haku orientated thought at all. Not that week, not that month, not even last night or this morning. The only thing that came close to being classified under that title was his dream of expirentming just how many headshots Haku would take for him before collapsing and blacking out- when ordered to stay awake. He had seen the boy take many things- fists, weapons, jutsu, threats- all without even needing to be ordered to. But, when it came to fulfilling an order, he lost all trace of human limitation. A sight to behold.

The yoked man growled and rolled over, waking up in a mood as always. Zabuza didn’t have the ability to be as calm as Haku- not without work. But, having grown up in a time and place where ninja were expected to kill comrades, were expected to be ruthless and cutthroat- being on edge just came naturally. He stood to his feet, wearing nothing but his cotton shorts and yanked Haku into the house by the scruff of his pink kimono, whirling his tool around to face him and narrowing his eyes, barking out harshly in his gravelly voice. ‘’What have I told you about hanging out the window?”

The boy hung his head low, looking at the floor pathetically. He hadn’t meant to wake his master. Zabuza~san deserve only the best and sleep was included in that. He knew how hard he worked to achieve his dreams, to reach his goals, and obtain his desires. For Haku… just...getting to be a part of that each and every day… it was a gift. And how had he returned it? By waking up the man when his head had been aching all the day before… Stupid, stupid boy…

The Yuki boy inhaled deeply and met his master’s gaze, truly and deeply troubled by his own actions. ‘’Forgive me, Master. I hadn’t meant to disobey you.’’ As to be expected from someone raised to be a weapon, Haku’s sentences were kept short and concise, not a bit of emotion seeping through them. He knew Zabuza~san hated the fact that he wasn’t as hard, or criminal, as he would like him to be. He had a heart and it was forever apparent, no matter how many times it was attempted to be beaten out of him. If anything, they merely strengthened it. He brought his eyes back down, not wanting the other to take his gaze as a challenge of authority and kept silent.

Zabuza tossed Haku aside roughly, with a low growl and slammed the window shut, head still throbbing. Gatō had always caused such reaction after his length, annoying meetings- which mostly consisted of him being bullied into jobs out of ‘respect’ and ‘debt’. Tch, stupid old fool. He had no idea the man was playing him and his organization. Didnt suspect that Zabuza merely put up with his bitching nature to get what he needed. It seemed Haku had been forgetting that same fact, more and more so. He would need to be taught a lesson- to be reminded. 

The strong, unmasked man, walked over to Haku, deep set in his stride as he reached over to a rack on the side of a shelf, grabbing a kunai in his hand. It wasnt what he had wanted at first, but the small blade would work all the same. He grabbed the submissive boy by his hair and threw him to the ground in front of him, stooping down to his level. It was the number one rule, never to be broken: know your place in my world. Haku was a tool, nothing more, yet nothing less. He would be kept around until he was no longer useful. He was not a comrade, not a friend, not human.

The knife slowly made its way up and under Haku’s chin, point digging deeply in the center beneath his face. He held it there, staring into that unwavering, pathetic gaze of his with his own steely eyes. The knife remained tauntingly still, before he slashed it across the soft skin, a waterfall of blood dripping down. ‘’Let this be a lesson to you, the next time you go acting as if you have a sense of free will.’ You obey my orders, that brain- this body- is mine. Not yours. You owe me.’’

Haku stared at the man with big, brown eyes, not even flinching as the blade was swept across his skin. He sat still, patient, and submissive- gazing at him from the floor without so much of a single tear or utterance. He had deserved that, he knew he did. It was expected of him to be the perfect tool and he… he failed...again. But, that wasnt the worst part. No, it wasnt the worse by far. What really stung the young boy, no matter how many times he heard it, was the razor edge to Zabuza’s voice. Not even the words themselves.

He knew he was a tool, something to be used and thrown away once no longer useful. But, it was that tone, the one that suggested he was already nearing his expiry date that made him want to sob. He… Zabuza… It... - didnt matter anymore.. There was something clenching inside Haku’s chest. That damned organ he had been scolded and hurt so many times for using- how he wished he could gouge it out. All Haku lived for was to make this man happy- to achieve his goals and be his weapon. Yet, here he was. Disappointing him again. It was then, then that he truly knew…   
それが一番辛いことだと知った……自分が この世にまるで…必要とされない存在だということです

The boy knew Zabuza didnt like it when people showed weakness, tool or not, so he rose to his feet, blood pouring from his cupped hand and kneeled before him, head bowed. He knew now, that he would be extra obedient. Train extra hard. Be cruel and callous for him. Just for him. He would make this up to his master. Haku looked up and caught his eye, holding onto his gaze fiercely and speaking to him firmly. “Hai, Zabuza~sama!”

The demon of the mist looked at the boy with scorn and hatred in his eyes. Love was something Zabuza would never understand- not in this lifetime- and to see this boy lay there and accept such cruel punishments, yet still rise and salute him with determination was… somewhat.. Unnerving. As the perfect tool, it was damn past satisfactory. But, knowing Haku… That loving gaze in his eyes when he looks at Zabuza, looks at him while he tries to break the boy apart, test after test, was enough to unsettle the large and scary man. He couldnt take looking at the filthy rat anymore. ‘’Clean your fucking face and practice your taijutsu technique. Your form is sloppy and its dragging me down. You’re a failure and I cant stand to have you fighting by my side and embarrassing me in front of my foes.


	17. One of Them Author Notes You Fuckers Hate

Hi, so I'm updatting this again and probably getting back to writing more fics for different fandoms including a full length Naruto one because this is fucking shit.  
If you like any of this _**because I can see the hits and kudos  
  
**_Please comment and leave feedback. Even hate comments work so I know what to do in te future for you.

Thank you!  
  



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